
aass_LlBS4=SS 
Book ■ K"^ 



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V 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
BUREAU OF EDUGATIQN 



BULLETIN, 1916. NO. 23 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS 



BY 



SHERMAN C. KINGSLEY 

U2ABETH Mccormick MEMORIAL FUND CHICAGO 
AND 

F. B. DRESSLAR 

PEA80DY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS. NASHVULC TENN. 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFHCE 

1917 



Monograph 



BXTLLETIKr OF THE BITBEAXJ OF EDUCATION, 

NoT».--With the exceptjlons indicated, the documeuts named below will be seat tree of 
charge apoo application to the Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C. Those 
marked with an asterisk (♦) are no longer available for free distribution, but may bo 
had of the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C, 
upon payment of the price stated. Remittances should \yc made In coin, currency, oi- 
money order. Stamps are not accepted. 

1916. 



*No. 


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*No. 15. 

*No. 16. 

No. 17. 

*Na 18, 
No. 19. 
No. 20. 
No. 21. 

*No.22. 

No. 23. 
No. 24. 
No. 25, 
No. 26. 
No. 27. 
*No. 28. 
No. 29. 



Educatlou exhibits at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. 

W. Carson Ryan, jr. 25 cts. 
Agricultural and rural education at the Panama-Pacific International 

Exposition. H. W. Foght' 
Placement of children in the elementary grades. K. J. Hoke. 10 cts. 
Monthly record of current educational publications January, 1016. 

5 cts. 
Kindergarten training schools. 

Statistics of State universities and States colleges, 1915. 
Monthlj^ record of current educational publications, February, 1916. 

5 cts. 
Reorganization of the public-school system. F. F. Bunker. 20 cts. 
Monthly record of current educational publications, March, 1916. 5 cto. 
Needed changes in secondary education. Charles W. Eliot and Ernesto 

Nelson. 
Monthly record of current educational publications, April, 1916. 
Problems involved in .standardizing State normal schools. C. H. Judd 

and S. G. Pai-ker. 
Monthly record of current educational publications. May, 191G. 5 cts. 
State pension .systems for publis-sehool teachers. W. Carson Ryan, jr., 

and Roberta King. 10 cts. ■ 

Monthly record of current educational publications — Index, February, 

1915, to January, 1916. 5 cts. 
Reorganizing a county system of rural schools. J. Harold Williams. 

10 cts. 
The Wisconsin county training schools for teachers in rural schools. 

W. E. Larson. 
Public facilities for educating the fklien. F. E. Farrlngton. 10 cts. 
State higher educational institutions of Iowa. 

Accredited secondary schools in tiie United States. Samuel P. Capen. 
Vocational secondary education. 
Monthly record of current educational publications, September, 1916. 

5 cts. 
Open-air schools. S. P. Kingsley and F. H. Dresslar. 
Monthly record of current educational publications, October, 1916. 
Commercial education. Glen Levin Swiggett. 
A survey of the educational institutions of the State of Washington, 
State higher educational institutions of North Dakota. 
The social studies In secondary education. Arthur W. Dunn. 10 cts. 
Educational survey of Wyoming. A. C. Monahan and Katherine M. 

Cook. • 

(CoDtlnaed on p*Se 3 of cover.) 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN. 1916, NO. 23 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS 



BY 

SHERMAN C. KINGSLEY ' ' 

ELIZABETH McCORMICK MEMORIAL FUND CHICAGO 
AND 

F. B. DRESSLAR 

PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS. NASHVILLE. TENN. 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

I9I7 

CrL/ ^ 



3ryc{-/_ 






ADDITIONAL COPIES 

or THIS PUBLICATION MAT BE PROCURED FROM 

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

■WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

50 CENTS PER COPY 



D. of D. 
JAN 8 1918 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Letter of transmittal 5 

Introduction 7 

Chapter I. — Sites and buildings 9 

Chapter II. — Equipments and cost of open-air schools 35 

Chapter III. — Social and economic conditions of open-air school children 51 

Chapter IV.^Lunches, their character and cost 61 

Chapter V. — Health supervision 78 

Chapter VI. — Records and forms 91 

Chapter VII. — Open-air schools in Germany 105 

Chapter VIII. — Open-air schools in Great Britain and Ireland 133 

Chapter IX. — Open-air schools in other foreign countries 145 

Chapter X. — -The open-air school movement in the United States 167 

Chapter XI. — rreventoria, sanitaria, hospital, and vacation open-air schools 178 

Chapter XII. — Educational organization and curricula of open-air schools 196 

Chapter XIII. — Results of open-air schools 218 

Appendixes : 

Appendix A. — Social, economic, and hygienic condition of 886 families of 1.0G2 

open-air pupils in 15 cities 241 

Appendix B. — Estimated expense of equipping and maintaining an open-window 

room with full regime of medical and nursing service 243 

Appendix C. — Recipes for open-air schools 245 

Appendix D. — List of Chicago menus, materials used, and their cost 251 

Appendix E. — Suggestions for open-air classes 258 

Appendix F. — Legislation and committee recommendations 2G2 

Appendix G. — List of open-air schools 264 

Selected bibliography 271 

Index 281 



FIGURES. 

1. Model of an open-air school and grounds on the unit plan, as exhibited at the 

Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915 10 

2. The first open-air school, Charlottenburg, Germanv 11 

3. Plan of buildings and grounds, " The Forest School," Charlottenburg 12 

4. ITfficulme open-air school. Birmingham, England. The school garden 13 

5. Plan of buildings and grounds. Open-air Recovery School, Kettering, England 14 

6. Interior Providi-nce (U. 1. 1 Open-air School 15 

7. Sea Breeae Hospital, Coney Island 16 

8. Outdoor activities at Sea Breeze Hospital, Coney Island, N. Y 17 

9. Site of first year-round open-air school, Chicago, 111 19 

10. Elizabeth McCormick Open-air School No. 2, on roof of Bowen Hall 20 

11 Open-window room. New York City. Double-hung window 21 

12. Tables and chairs replace stationary desks in the first open-window room at the 

Franklin School, Chicago, 111 ^ 22 

13. Floor plan of open-air school unit. St. Louis 25 

14. The first Nellie Leland School, Detroit. Mich 26 

15. Plans of the Nellie Leland Open-air School, Detroit, Mich 27 

16. Cherry Open-air School, Toledo, Ohio 2S 

17-18. Plans of the open-air school built by the Columbus Society for the Preven- 
tion and Cure of Tulierculosis 29 

19. Edward Mott Moore Open-air School, Rochester, N. Y 30 

20. First-floor plans, Edward Mott Moore Open-air School. Kochcstcr. X. Y 30 

21. Second-floor plans, Edward Mott Moore Open-air School 31 

22. Plan for complete school plant composed of units of Fresno typo 31 

23. Third-floor plan. Eagle School, Cleveland, Ohio 32 

24. Grammar School. Coronado. Cal 33 

25. Revere School, Canton, Mass 34 

26. The sitting-out bag used in open-air schools in New York and elsewhere 36 

27. The sitting-out bag fastens with metal snaps, easily manipulated by children — 37 

28. Type of wrap allowing cold air to enter about neck and shoulders 38 

29. Sitting-out bag used at Providence (It. I.) Open-air School 39 

30. The Eskimo coat should be large enough to go on over sweater or heavy wrap — 40 

31. The Eskimo suit gives pei-fect freedom of motion 41 

32. The lumberman's boot, resoled with canvas 42 

33. A leather boot, with upper part felt 4.3 

34. The ordinary steamer chair is unhygienic for children to sleep on 43 

35. Suggested tvpe of cot for open-air use 44 

36. Locker devised by St. Louis open-air school for storing cots and Eskimo suits-_ 4;) 

37. Thermometer rack for use in schools where temperatures are taken 4J> 

38. Cloak rooms fitted up for kitchens by the Chicago Board of Education 47 

39. Supply closet used in "cloak-room kitchen." Chicago 49 

40. A one-room apartment — _ p_ 

41. The kind of home that produces malnourished children oo 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

42. The airy dining room of tlie Cliarlottenburg Open-air School 62 

43. Dining room at Uflfculme Open-air School, Birmingham, England 6.3 

44. Kitchen of open-air school, liochester 64 

45. Dining room of Edward Mott Moore Open-air School, Rochester, N. Y 6-5 

46. Domestic science equipment utilized for open-air school children, Aulmrn. N. Y_ 67 

47. An inexpensive kitchen equipment has served Providence, R. I., since 3 008 69 

48. Domestic science class preparing dinner for open-air school, New Britain, Conn 70 

49. Indoor lunch for open-air school pupils 7;} 

50. Lunching out of doors in the first open-air school in Hungary 74 

51. Lunch in an open-air school near The Hague, Holland '. ' 75 

52. Recording pulse and temperatui-e in a Chicago school 80 

53. P^ntrance examination, Shurtleff School, Chelsea, Mass 81 

54. On a day like this, physician and teacher need to see that children are warmly 

clad 85 

55. Personal hygiene, Chicago Open-air School 86 

56. Weighing in a specially devised slip 88 

57. Weighing in the regular open-air suit ; 89 

58. Weighing slip devised in the open-air schools of Chicago 95 

59. General view of buildings and grounds of the Charlottenburg School 3 06 

60. Children at the Charlotteulnirg School resting under the trees 108 

61. At the Charlottenburg Open-air School both boys and girls have separate 

walled-in spaces for outdoor gymnastics 109 

62. Exterior of open-air school building, Elberfeld, Germany 118 

63. The delightful setting of the Elberfeld Open-air School is illustrated by this 

view of the children at rest 119 

64. Reclining chair used for rest period in open-air school at Nurnberg, Germany — 123 
6."). Dormitory for residential pupils, cpen-air school at Nurnberg, Germany 124 

66. Interior of open-air school classroom, Elberfeld, Germany 125 

67. An open-air recitation at Munchen-tiladbacli. (Germany 127 

68. Open-air shack used for rest hour at Munchen-Gladbach, Germany 128 

69. Thackley Open-air School, Bradford, England 136 

70. View of one of the porches, Thackley Open-air School, Bradford, England i;.7 

71. Open-air recitation, Barnsley, England- -----:; J^^ 

72. Bermerside, a residential open-air school supported by the city of Halifax 1.^9 

73. Open-air school for normal children at Carnarvon, Wales 1-10 

74. All classrooms in the Carnarvon School open into this marching corridor 141 

75. The open-air pavilion used as a schoolroom at Bermerside . 142 

76. A recitation under the fir trees at Murthley, Perthshire, Scotland 1« 

77. Open-air school near The Hague, Holland i-^^ 

78. Open-air school, Szombathely, Hungary IM 

79. The Forest School in Victoria Park, Toronto, Canada ]')g 

80. Open-air pavilion at Sandringham, Australia. lOb 

81 The first open-air school in the Ignited States (Providence. R. I.> - 1()9 

82! An open-air schoolroom in AUentown, Pa., used for both recitation and rest 1(0 

83. Anemic girl l.ix 

84. Anemic boy : :}'2 

85. The health that comes from the out-of-doors J^n 

86. An open-window room .-7--^ r— cTV--- r^vf ""S 177 

87. Rest period, Elizabeth McCormick Open^air School No. ^2 17^ 



88 



Rest period, Elizabeth McCormick Open-air School No. 2 

Interior tul)erculosis preventorium at Farmmgaaie, N .)__ — -. -—_- 
I'lan of the tul)erculosls preventorium for children at Farmmgdale. JN. 



J 179 



90 Herman Kiefer Sanitarium Open-air School, Den'Oit. Mich _ l»U 

9l' View from Sea Breeze Hospital for Surgical Tuberculosis, Coney Island, N. \- 181 

O'' Massachusetts Hospital School, Canton, Mass j-^- 

9.3. Exterior, East River homes — .-i—-—- |of 

94 Children's cottase at Chicaco municipal tuberculosis sanitarium i»4 

it- ?Sw^a^rn^P^eTe°n\S"m,°m^^^^^^^^^^^ J87 

II- gSL|^e^^^'4rSzlbaii^r(^I^i^gai^rO^ 198 

99 Goits and chickens are important members of the school family at the Bowring 

100 c'Sen'^on^^'Ichoot^ouVn'v'Sin?!^^ 201 
lO?' Brea%ing"exercises°U'plaUrm Idjoining the school tent, Spvingfleld, Mass__ 203 
10-' \ school Irani en on a citv roof. Horace :\Iann School, New >ork City_- - 205 
£0.3; Computing height of trees, Uffculme Open-air School, Birmingham, England- 208 
104. "The open-air smile" 



LIST OF FORMS. 

Page. 

t Face of phvsical history card used in open-air schools in Chicago 92 

2 Reverse side of phvsical history card used in Chicago open-air schools 93 

s! Social history card used in (""hicago _ w^ 

4. Parent's consent card used In Chicago open-air school _________ »b 



I'arenfs con'sent card used in Chicago open-air school-___---— 
Face of record used in. open-air school work in < leveland, Ohio. 



r, Face of record used in open-air scnuoi woin. m ^ .. .> .ui.,., w... o7 

1. Reverse of rec(.rd card used in Cleveland r-xf-i oS 

S Face of record card used in open-air scihool work Newark, N. .1 »•' 

9. Reverse side of record card used in Newark, N. J- -— ^JJ" 

10 Face of record card used in open-air school work, Syracuse. N. Y i''^ 

11. Reverse side of record card used in Syracuse, N. ]---^ ,,- . iXo 

12 Face of record card used in open-air school work in New \ov\s. i"^ 

13. Reverse side of New York record card 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Department ojf the Interior, 

Bureau or Education, 
Washington^ June 8, 1916. 

Sir: Modern political, social, and industrial life demands some 
degree of education for all people. Modern humanitarian idealism 
recognizes the right of every child to such education as will enable 
it to live happily and successfully. That no child may be denied 
this right and that societ}^ and industry may be served most effec- 
tiveh^, most progressive countries of the Avorld have enacted laws for 
compulsory school attendance through the elementary grades or to 
the age of 12, 14, or IG. But many children are afflicted with tuber- 
culosis in some form; some are poorly nourished and are anemic; 
others suffer from various other physical defects. For these, regular 
attendance upon indoor schools may be very injurious. The edu- 
cation of the schools is important, but life and health are more 
important. Some means must therefore be found by which these 
children may acquire education without danger to life or further 
impairment of health. It has been fully demonstrated that the open- 
air school rightly conducted is much better for these children than 
the ordinary schools, housed too often in dusty, overheated, and 
badly ventilated buildings. So it has come about that, although the 
modern open-air school is of very recent origin, it is now found in 
most or all of our larger cities and towns and in many of the smaller 
ones. Its special value both for education and for health is due to 
the combination of pure fresh air, proper nourishment, and a freer 
regimen which makes possible a wiser alternation of work and rest 
than is permitted by the schedule of most schools. 

The movement in this country for the establishment and main- 
tenance of open-air schools has been hastened through the initiation 
and financial assistance of various volunteer societies and private 
foundations for the prevention of tuberculosis or for the general 
conservation of public health. One of the foundations which has 
been especially helpful in this movement is the Elizabeth ISIcCormick 
Memorial Fund, of Chicago, 111., established by Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus 
Hall McCormick in memory of their daughter, " to improve the con- 
dition of child life in the United States." This foundation has 
assisted very largely in the establishment and maintenance of open- 

5 



6 LETTER OP TRANSMITTAL. 

air scliools in the city of Chicago. It has also rendered valuable 
service by gathering and publishing information on the equipment, 
organization, and work of open-air schools and by advising school 
officers in all parts of the country in regard to these. I was, there- 
fore, glad to accept the cooperation of this foundation in the 
preparation of this manuscript, which I am transmitting herewith, 
on the organization, equipment, and conduct of open-air schools in 
this- and other countries. To this end Mr. Sherman C. Kingsley, 
director of the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund, was appointed 
a special collaborator in this bureau ; and Dr. Fletcher B. Dresslar, 
special agent of the bureau and professor of health education in 
George Peabody College for Teachers at Nashville, Tenn., was 
requested to w^ork with him. In their work they had the assist- 
ance of Miss Mabel Broun Ellis. The manuscript was prepared 
after a very careful and thorough stud}^ of open-air schools in most 
or all of the more progressive countries of the world. Fortunately, 
the material from Europe was collected before the outbreak of the 
present war. I recommend that the manuscript be published as a 
bulletin of the Bureau of Education. The importance of the subject 
and the widespread interest manifested in it justify its publication. 

Respectfully submitted. 

P. P. Claxton, 

C oniTnissioner. 

The Secretary or the Interior. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Open-air schools represent one of the hitest developments in public- 
school organization. They came as the result of a desire for better 
conservation of the health of those children who, by reason of a tuber- 
culous affection, poor nourishment, or other debilitating conditions, 
were unable to profit physically and mentally by the life and work 
of regular indoor schools. This method of dealing with physically 
defective children signalizes one of the most interesting and decided 
changes undertaken in school management for many centuries. In- 
door schools have for the most part grown and developed under the 
idea that teachers had to do with the minds and not with the bodies 
of children, while open-air schools are based on the conception 
that the first essential to a worthy education is sound bodily health. 
The former grew out of the error of assuming that mind is not closely 
associated with the physical body and that early mental training was 
paramount to the demands of health ; the latter have grown out of a 
new emphasis on the value of health and physical soundness and 
recently discovered facts bearing on the nature of certain diseases 
and the best methods of protecting human life from the possible 
effects of these diseases. 

Naturally, as in the case of all progressive movements, many direct 
and indirect causes have contributed to this end. Chief among these 
were the discovery of the germ which causes tuberculosis and the 
great value of an out-of-door life and nourishing food in the treat- 
ment of those afflicted with this disease. The world is directly in- 
debted to Dr. Koch, of Germany, for the former and mainly to Dr. 
Trudeau, of America, for the latter. In addition to the impetus 
gained by these discoveries the study of children both in health and 
disease has been encouraged in the past generation as never before, 
and hygiene is now recognized as of more worth than medicine. 

No one with an unbiased mind can read the accounts of the history 
of open-air schools and the results they have already achieved with- 
out in some measure forecasting the time when the same conditions 
and the same sort of care will be extended to the whole school popula- 
tion. Surely there is greater reason for keeping the school children 
of this or any other nation from sickness than there is for attempting 
to save them after their health and physical vigor have been im- 

7 



8 INTEODUCTION, 

paired. The opinion expressed by the late Dr. Arthur T. Cabot that 
in the future " all schools will be open-air schools," is in line with 
this changed emphasis, and when considered in connection with 
the results already attained in open-air schools seems eminently 
reasonable. 

The chief purposes of this bulletin are to record something of the 
history and progress of the open-air school movement, to point out 
some of the results which have been attained through this means of 
dealing with delicate school children, to designate in some detail 
the programs followed in such schools, and to bring together in a 
convenient form other information which may be needed by those 
who are planning to organize and equip schools of this character. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Chapter I. 
SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



The original open-air school -vvas located in a forest, and was 
called a forest school. This fact has had an important influence 
in the selection of sites upon which open-air school buildings were 
to be built. The forest plan has not been followed generally in the 
United States, however. In a few notable cases parks and large 
grounds have been utilized for this purpose, but many American 
open-air schools are on the roofs of city buildings, in old school- 
houses, or on vacant lots and beaches. 

There are some special needs in open-air schools which can not 
be satisfied short of large grounds, where nature study may be 
undertaken readily and naturally, where gardening is possible, 
where playgrounds are ample, where there is room for rabbit hutches 
and cages for pets, and especially where the air is clear and pure, 
and where the children may be removed from the distressing noises 
of city life. Children in open-air schools are usually sick or anemic 
because they have been cheated out of the birthright all children 
should have — fresh, clean air. opportunity to get acquainted with 
the lives of plants and animals, good food, and a chance to play in 
the open; and roofs, vacant lots, or other available in-town spaces 
for getting the children out in the fresh air are only makeshifts, 
after all. 

In Europe the arrangement of buildings and the choice of sites 
for open-air schools have followed in general the lines laid down in 
the original open-air school at Charlottenburg, Germany. The 
Charlottenburg School is situated in a beautiful pine forest. The 
ground is rolling and sandy. The buildings are of inexpensive con- 
struction, but are carefully planned for the purposes of the school 
and are grouped in convenient relation to each other as well as to 
the outdoor features of the place. The immediate grounds are not 
only ample for the buildings, but they afford room for both vege- 
table and flower gardens, each child having an individual allot- 
ment. There is also an open-air gymnasium surrounded by an 

9 



10 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLSo 




SITES AXD BUILDINGS. 



11 



inclosure, where the children have sun baths in connection with 
open-air exercises. Another section is set apart for ]3hiy, where 
the children are allowed to engage in games and sports of their 
own choice. They build wonderful trenches and construct buildings 
and other devices to suit individual fancies. Adjoining this, and 
usually merging into it, is a section where pets of different kinds 
are kept. The children not only care for the pets but help to build 
cages, pens, and houses for them. 

The forest extends in every direction from the school and affords 
large possibilities foi' walks and natuie study, such as the obser- 




FiG. L:.--riJc lir.st 



larlotlouburs, Germany. 



ration of seed distribution, study of plant and animal life, the 
change of seasons, and other aspects of nature. 

Experiences gained in these different activities are utilized in 
drawing work, arithmetic, geograph}', reading, and in fact have 
a bearing on nearl}^ all school subjects. Drawing lessons, as well as 
arithmetic, have an added interest when the work is applied in the 
construction of a pen or house or some article of conA'enience or 
comfort for the children's animal friends. 

The whole plan and conception of the school enables the teachers 
to make an ally of nature in their great work of education. These 



12 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 




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SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



13 



features not only keep the children in the fresh air and sunshine, but 
bring them into direct contact and cooperation with the primary and 
fundamental interests of a child's life. 

While few sites for other European schools are as ample as that 
of the Charlottenburg School, the general features are much the 
same. At the Uifculme Open-air School, near Birmingham, Eng- 
land, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Barrow^ Cadbury, the immediate site 
is adequate for the school buildings, for gardens, playgrounds, and 
quarters for the pets and gives ample space besides. Moreover, it 
adjoins the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Cadbury, and the open-air school 
pupils are allo^^ed access to the grounds. Shooters Hill Open-air 




Fig. 4. — Uffculme Open-Air School, Bii-minsbam. England. The school garden. 

School, near London, is also located near a large forest. The chief 
medical officer of the Board of Education of London, in his report 
for 1913 (p. 258), outlines the considerations w^hich in his opinion 
should enter into the establishment of open-air schools, and, in gen- 
eral, the schools of England have developed as he indicates. This 
report states : 

The site should be sheltered, though fairly open and easily accessible. One 
acre of land should be available for, say, 50 children. The buildings should 
be inexpensive and constructed in such a way as to allow of cross ventilation 
and maximum admission of air, with adequate protection against stormy 
weather. In winter some means of heating is advisable. The classrooms must 
be adapted for the various educational methods of the open-air school, including 
manual work. These classrooms should be constructed for 25 pupils. The 



14 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



school premises should consist of an administrative building, classrooms, and 
a resting shed. On the question of administrative detail, the requirements 




are a kitchen, diningroom, doctor's and nurses room, and jirovision lor sliower 
baths. As a usual thing, the schools abroad are established for a considerable 
number of children, 100 or more. 



SITES AXD BUILDINGS. 



15 



The same report states- 



that there should be a head teacher for from 120 to 150 children and a 
teacher for each 25. The teacher selected should have special knowledge of 
nature study, manual training, hygiene, and physical exercise. Thei*e should 
be a fully qualified nurse and the necessary assistants for cooking and serving 
meals and for bathing, say, 4 women for 120 children. 

The earlier open-air schools in the United States made their be- 
ginnings in less favorable quarters than are enjoyed by the European 
fichools. In this, as in many other enterprises in the United States, 
private initiative led the way, and such expedients as unused school- 




FiG. 6. — Interior of Provideuce (R. I.) Open-air School. 



houses, ferryboats, roofs, porches, tents, and remodeled buildings 
were pressed into service. 

The first open-air school in the United States Avas established in 
Providence, E. L, in 1908. Like most open-air schools established 
since, it had its impetus and its initial support Avholly or in part 
from individuals and organizations actively engaged in antituber- 
culosis work. Dr. Mary S. Packard, whose letter is quoted below, 
had been connected with charity organization work for a number 
of years and had been instrumental, with Dr. Ellen Stone and others, 
in starting the Providence League for the Suppression of Tubercu- 
losis. In the summer preceding the inauguration of the Providence 



16 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



school they had taken a group of children who were predisposed to 
tuberculosis to a country place belonging to a friend. They en- 
countered numerous difficulties in carrying on the project; but their 
earnestness and zeal and their ability to demonstrate to the com- 
munity that these children were in no sense a menace to the health 
of others allayed the fears of the community and made possible the 
establishment of this summer school. 

Dr. Packard's letter to Dr. Jay Perkins, president of the Provi- 
dence League for the Suppression of Tuberculosis, written August 
14, 1907, is as follows : 

Do you think it is too early to attempt to have a single small school, neces- 
sarily ungraded, for those [tuberculous] children, arranged so as to approsi- 




FiG. 7. — Sea Breeze Hospital, Coney Island, N. Y. 

mate an out-of-door school? It would, of course, be an experiment and in all 
probability would not be undertaken by the public school authorities; but we 
have thought it might be run very inexpensively, and that possibly the Provi- 
dence League for the Suppression of Tuberculosis or some other society would 
bear the expense of housing and heating, and that the city would supply a 
teacher. Probably there are some tuberculous teachers. The building would 
be very simple; it is suggested that the horse sheds of the Friends' meeting- 
house, on North Main Street, could be arranged for it, and that the owners 
would be willing, since they are using their meetinghouse so little and have 
given the yard for a playground this summer; or the little house on Conanicut 
Street, now used as a pure milk station, probably could be had rent free. 

We shall have about ten children at the camp who will soon have to go 
back to the ordinary schools, or would be at home in close rooms, and you will 
know of many more than these who should liave an out-of-door life either dur- 
ing the day or the night, if it is impossible to give them both. Now that the 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



17 



general interest in tlie prevention of tuberculosis is so much greater than ever 
before, do you think that some such experiment might be started this fall? 

This letter met with an enthusiastic response. The Charlottenbiirg 
School at this time was only in the third year of its existence, and 
little or no data were at hand for guidance and direction. Plowever, 
the school department of Providence had alread}^ shown its pro- 
gressiveness by establishing the first ungraded room in the United 
States for retarded children, and the board members were alive to 
the educational importance of this new opportunity of rendering 
real service to children in need. 




Fig. 8. — Outdoor activities at St-a Breeze Hospital, Coney Island, N. Y. 

The League for the Suppression of Tuberculosis stood ready with 
offers of assistance. A schoolhouse not at that time in use, and cen- 
trally located, was requested for the purpose of a fresh-air school, 
and the committee on city property not only granted this request, 
but made all tbe changes desired, which included the remodeling of 
windows of one room and the installation of stoves for heating and 
cooking. These arrangements were so carefully made that they have 
been continued almost without change up to the present time. 

Another similar effort was going on at about the same time in 
the city of New York. For many years the xVssociation for Improv- 
ing the Condition of the Poor had been taking children from the 
congested districts of New York to Coney Island for recuperation 
97855°— Bull. 23—17 2 



18 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

during the summer months. Among the thousands of children bene- 
fited were many children suffering from tuberculosis of the bones 
and joints. In order to meet the needs of these children, the asso- 
ciation established at Sea Breeze, Coney Island, in the summer of 
1903, a seaside tent camp for the treatment of children suffering 
from tuberculosis of the bones and glands. The New York Board of 
Health estimated that there were from 4,000 to 5,000 children under 
15 years of age in that city suffering from nonpulmonary forms of 
tuberculosis, and that at least three-fourths of these children were 
to be found in the tenement districts. 

The report on the experiment, written at the close of this first 
summer, states: 

It was a pathetic group of children who came to us in .Tune, so weak and 
emaciated that it was necessary to send one adult with each child. It is not an 
exaggeration to say that at the present time it would be difficult to select among 
normal children in our tenement district 50 who look as happy and as rugged 
as those among our earliest patients who have remained until the end of the 
summer. * * * These children have lived out of doors practically every 
hour. Each of the four dormitories accommodates 12 children and is ventilated 
with 15 windows always open, so that even at night the ventilation is thorough. 

In 1904 the Xew York Board of Education sent a teacher to in- 
struct these children. The original purpose was not to conduct a 
school, but to take a group of these little children and restore them 
to health, not only gratifying their desire to play like other children, 
but putting them on the way to useful citizenship. 

The results achieved at Providence and Sea Breeze, reinforcing as 
they did those at the Charlottenburg School, marked the beginning 
of a rapid development of open-air schools in the United States. 
Boston, Mass., made use of a park refectorj^; New^ York City secured 
a ferry boat and converted it into an open-air school. In other cities 
tents and buildings of inexpensive construction were pressed into 
service. 

So far in the United States the open-air school has attempted, first, 
to take care of anemic, undernourished, debilitated children. These 
schools have had the problem of providing not only for proper class- 
rooms but facilities for kitchen, cliningroom, bathing, rest period, 
and for the physician's and nurse's use. A tent structure or cheap 
building often serves satisfactorily for the classroom work, provided 
there is near it a building which will afford these other facilities 
which are indispensable. 

The first open-air school in Chicago was conducted by the Chicago 
Tuberculosis Institute in cooperation with the school board in the 
summer of 1909. A tent was placed in the yard of the Graham 
School and this, together with rooms in the school plant, enabled 
the organizations to carry on a summer's work for 30 anemic and 



SITES AXD BUILDIXGS. 



19 



debilitated children. The results of this experiment were so grati- 
fjdng that the friends of the movement felt that Chicago should go 
forward and conduct a year-round school. 

The best available site that could then be found was the roof of 
the Mary Crane Xursery, which is located almost at the exact center 
of population of Chicago. Large numbers of children needing spe- 
cial care lived in the congested tenements surrounding this building. 
The roof equipment was not designed or constructed for open-air 
school purposes but had been used as a fresh-air station for sick 
babies during the summer time. The building was a tent-like struc- 
ture 14 b}' 25 feet, built of asbestos board. There was also a canvas 




Fic. JJ. — Sitf of tir5;t year-rouud oijeu-air school, Chicago, 111. 



shelter of about the same dimensions, which was used to accommodate 
the children during the rest period. Outside this tent Avas an inclo- 
sure which afforded some space for recreation. The kitchen and 
dining-room were located in the rooms of the nursery, one floor below. 
There was no heat on the roof. The floor of the schoolroom was 
made of common boards covered with linoleum. The windows were 
hinged from the top and could be raised and lowered by pulleys and 
ropes from the inside. These windows thus formed an open zone for 
air, but could be closed from any side against the storm and wind. 

The room was equipped for 25 children, but from the beginning 
there was always a large waiting list, and the number sometimes 



20 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



rose to 30. During the first year the children ranged from 6 to 
16 years of age, and from the point of view of their educational 
progress represented eight grades of the elementary school. 

Two years later another school was opened on the roof of the 
Hull House Boys' Club, which adjoins the Mary Crane Nursery. 
On this roof there is now a locker room, lavatories, shower baths, 
and toilets, and a large resting shed which is anchored to a frame 
made of gas pipe. The building here is also of asbestos board. This 
site connects with another roof, that of Bowen Hall, another of the 
Hull House group of buildings, and this roof is used as a garden, 




Fig. 10. — Roof garden, Elizabeth McCormick Open-air School No. 2, on roof of Bowen 
Hall, one of the Hull House buildings. 

where both vegetables and flowers are grown. The dining room and 
kitchen are on the top floor of the Hull House Boys' Club, just 
under the roof structure. 

In the United States many cities have adapted ordinary school- 
rooms to open-air school work by simply opening the windows. In 
a room where there is a ventilating system the out duct should be 
cut off when the windows are opened. When this detail has been 
observed, no interference has occurred with the ventilating system. 
Care should be taken also that children do not sit in immediate 
drafts and that the wind does not blow directly on them. This is' 
easily taken care of by using screens or ventilators to deflect air 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



21 



currents upward. Sometimes an alteration in the windows is neces- 
sary, or the removal of a side wall and installation of a different 
type of windows may be desirable. 

In the original open-air school in the United States, at Providence, 
the windows were hinged at the top and could be swung to the 
ceiling by means of a pulley. In the open- window rooms in Chicago 
a canvas ventilator has been found to be one of the most practical 
ventilators. The principle of this ventilator is the same as that 
of ventilators in commercial use; the difference is that it allows the 
windows to be half open and provides a greater intake. In New 




B^iG. 11. — Open-window room, New York City. Double-bung window. 



York City, where there are now more than 200 open-window rooms, 
the double-hung window is the type most generally used. 

Dr. John B. Todd, of Syracuse, N. Y., advocates a ventilator 
made by stretching unbleached muslin over a frame and operated 
after the manner of an ordinary wire screen. This slides up and 
down according as it is desired to have the upper or lower sash 
open. 



22 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



In selecting locations for open-window rooms, it is preferable to 
have those with two exposures. South and east or south and west 
exposures, other things being equal, are most desirable. In the 
first open- window room in the city of Chicago one room was used 
both for recitation work and for the rest period. The desks were 
removed and w^ere replaced by tables and chairs. The tables and 
chairs could be pushed to one side to allow placing the cots for the 
rest period. These cots were kept in a corner or on one side of 
the room. 




Fig. 12. — Tables and chairs replace stationary desks in the first open-window room at 
the Franklin School, Chicago, 111. 

The children wore their ordinary street wraps. It was found 
necessary, however, to provide extra clothing for schoolroom use, 
and now an Eskimo coat and lumberman's boots are furnished by 
the Elizabeth McCormick Fund for each child in an open-window 
room. The temperature averages about 55° in these rooms in the 
winter months. There are now 15 such classes in Chicago. 

In some of these open-window rooms a portion of a cloakroom 
is partitioned off and converted into a kitchen. In other instances 
a gas plate is placed in a corner of an ordinary schoolroom which is 
used as a diningroom. A good-sized kitchen cabinet will hold the 
necessary dishes and cooking utensils. There has been no difficulty 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 23 

SO far in the schools where open-window rooms exist to find space 
that satisfactorily accommodates these added features. 

The open-air school movement has reached a phase where it is 
receiving a permanent embodiment in definitely planned and con- 
structed buildings for the purpose. A number of cities have already 
built permanent buildings and others have them in contemplation. 
Still other cities are modifying their schoolhouse architecture and 
are providing for special open-air classes and more adequately pro- 
viding for fresh air and sunshine in all the rooms. 

Besides the definite details of planning and constructing build- 
ings to accommodate the different features of open-air schools, a 
number of cardinal points should be kept in mind. A mistake often 
made in open-air school structures is the use of wide overhanging 
eaves instead of windows to give protection against wind and storm. 
This not only fails to give control of these elements, but has the 
great disadvantage of shutting out the sunlight in winter and the 
free movement of air in summer. There should be regular window's 
or canvas covers for such openings, preferably windows, because 
it becomes necessary at times to close the building on the side from 
which the storm or wind is coming. 

Dr. I. N. Woodruff, medical director of open-air schools in New 
York City, calls attention to the difficulty of constructing out-of- 
door classrooms so that they will be satisfactory in both warm and 
cold weather. He says: 

The type of classroom required in warin weather is one in which there is a 
maximum amount of air movement and in which the roof is so constructed as 
not only to shut off the sun's rays, hut with an air space to act as an insulator 
to prevent tlie air underneath the roof from becoming too heated. 

For this and other reasons Dr. Woodruff considers that most of 
the classrooms for anemic children in New York are open-window 
rooms rather than outdoor classes, and says that for New York 
City children he distinctly prefers them to the outdoor classrooms. 

The site for an open-air school should be well drained and sup- 
plied w^ith abundance of pure water. An open-air school should 
not be located on a bare hilltop, nor set in a damp, shaded valley. 
One naturally associates an open-air school with trees and rolling 
lawns, with abundance of sunshine over all. An ideal situation can 
not be found short of the outlying country sections of the city. The 
problem of transportation needs to be solved. A natural forest in 
some accessible place, yet out of the main currents of the hurry and 
worry of modem life, seems to offer the best opportunity to meet 
the hygienic needs of such children as are gathered together for 
open-air school work. The presence of the trees stimulates the 
children to an observation of nature and begets in them a love of 



24 OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 

outdoor life, which is of vital importance for them if they hope 
to reach any large degree of strength and usefulness. 

The orientation of the open-air school building, despite the fact 
that many more liberties can be taken in its construction than in 
that of the ordinary classroom structure, nevertheless calls for cer- 
tain common features. There is no value in useless exposure to 
winds and biting weather. There is value, however, in sunshine 
and in fresh, pure air, wholesome food, and abundance of quiet, un- 
disturbed repose. It is important, therefore, that structures used 
for open-air work should receive abundance of sunshine, yet not so 
much as to interfere with the children in reading, writing, or any 
other task requiring close application. It is therefore justifiable to 
open a rest shed toward the south, so as to get a full amount of 
sunshine, if only the eyes of the children while reclining may be 
shaded from the strong light. With proper precaution, indeed, it 
is better for children to sleep and rest in the sunshine than in the 
shade. When, however, the children are working at their books, the 
same rule for proper lighting of the classroom, that is, receiving 
the light from the left, to prevent the direct rays of the sun from 
falling across the page, is applicable. Open-air classrooms ought 
to get their main light from the east or west, so that there will be a 
thorough sunning each day, and at the same time a chance to regu- 
late the light in such a way as to prevent eyestrain. 

Some heat is desirable in classrooms in open-air schools, especially 
in the northern latitudes of the United States. The diningroom, 
kitchen, showers, and toilets should always be properly heated. 
Many open-air schools have no heat in the classroom, but this makes 
it necessary in cold weather to use soapstones, extra foot covering, 
electric warmers, or other devices. Even these expedients, though 
they incur inconvenience and expense, are preferable to a schoolroom 
kept air-tight in order to conserve the heat. 

If heat is introduced into an open-air classroom, care should be 
taken to avoid the old-time mistake of closing windows and keeping 
them shut in order to conserve the heat. The children must be kept 
comfortable; but this can be done by proper attention to clothing, 
exercise, and food. It is an advantage to be able to modify the tem- 
perature in cold weather, but open-air school teachers must see that 
the air is kept fresh and stimulating, and that the stove or heating 
plant is made to serve, not to dominate. The air must be kept fresh 
and pure. 

Even permanent open-air school buiklings are of comparatively 
inexpensive construction. The first open-air school in St. Louis, Mo,, 
was located outside the city, on a lot which commanded a good view 
and which provided space for play and for gardens. Its first build- 
ing Avas of a simple shack construction, and here the early years of 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



25 



the school were spent. One teacher has been in charge since the 
beginning and has been able to keep in personal touch with all the 
children who have been through the school. The success of this 
school and the need of additional facilities have led the school au- 
thorities of St. Louis to secure permanent grounds in the city and to 
enlarge the work. They purchased a large dwelling occupying a 
block which adjoins the Harris Teachers' College. The dwelling- 
house has been remodeled and will furnish quarters for the dining 
room, kitchen, showers, lockers, nurse's and doctor's rooms. The 
ground plan of this new" school is shown in figure 13. The plant is 
to accommodate 175 tuberculous children. Three one-story buildings 
will project as wings from a loggia which provides a covered passage 
between the different buildings and connects with the main building. 
Heating and other service pipes run in the floor of this loggia and 




Fig. 13. — Floor plan of open-air school unit, St. Louis. 

under the floors of the classrooms. The cost of this building will 
be $37,500, and the estimated yearly cost of operation $LiG,250. 

In September, 1912, Mr. Frank B. Leland presented to the city 
of Detroit a building and grounds known as the Nellie Leland Open- 
Air School. (For building and plans, see figures 14 and 15.) It was 
first constructed to accommodate 25 children, but in the year fol- 
lowing it was enlarged to double the capacity and now has 50 chil- 
dren. Originally the expense other than the teacher and school 
equipment was paid by the Detroit Society for the Prevention and 
Study of Tuberculosis. In 1914 the city assumed the entire expense 
for the operation of the school. 

Toledo, Ohio, has a new building known as the Cherry Street Open- 
Air School. Schoolrooms, diningroom, and kitchen are provided on 
the first floor; dormitories, musicroom, and bathrooms on the second 
floor. The schoolrooms are screened and have canvas windows open- 



26 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



ing on the inside. It accommodates 60 children, 30 of whom remain 
at the school both day and night. Expenses of food and nurse are 
paid by the Anti-Tuberculosis Society. The balance of the expenses 
are met by the board of education of Toledo. (See figure 16.) 

Columbus, Ohio, has an open-air school building, erected by] 
the Columbus Society for the Prevention and Cure of Tubercu- 
losis, at an expense of $6,111. The frame building shown in 
figure 18 contains a large schoolroom, diningroom, kitchen, lockers, 
lavatories, storeroom, bath, nurse's and recitation rooms. An 18-foot 
porch surrounds the building. The board of education provided the 
site and pa^^s for school supplies, teacher, and caretaker. The Anti- 
Tuberculosis Society bears the other expenses. The capacity of 
this school is 25. 




Fk;. 14. — The flrst •Nellii' Leland Scliool. Detroit. Mich. 



Rochester, N. Y., is another city which began its open-air school 
work in a modest way and has grown through its success into per- 
manent quarters, as illustrated in figure 19. The new building is 
located in a city park, 8 acres of which have been gi\en to the school 
exclusively for open-air school purposes. The site is easily accessible 
to the cars. The present building accommodates 65 children and 
cost $18,000. The plans call for the construction of an additional 
wing, which will enlarge the capacity of the building to 130. 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



27 



In 191-2 the city of Oakland voted a $2,000,000 bond issue for the 
construction of new school bnildinojs. In order that this sum might 
be most advantageously spent, the board of education created an 
honorary commission, composed of school men, architects, sanitary 
engineers, and sociologists, to recommend a program for schoolhouse 
construction. Their opinion was especially requested on gymnasia, 
lunchrooms, provision for the department of health developments, 




d 

H mi 

? r^ O 




■-'---^■^ 



r.----_-r^-"^ 



<f------ 



and sanitation and open-air schools. The following recommendation 
on open-air schools was included in the report of this commission : 

In each new building there shall be at least one " open-air '" schoolroom 
that can not be entirely closed, preferably opening to the east. 

In all new buildings there shall be provision made whereby every classroom 
may be easily transformed into an " open-air " room, such transforming 
measures not to be under the control of teachers and pupils. 



28 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



One or more school buildings entirely of the open-air type should be erected. 
All halls and corridors should be so constructed that they can not be entirely 
closed from the outside air. 

All rooms designed as open-air rooms should be provided with some means 
for warming and drying. Most likely some method of direct radiation will be 
necessary". 

Fresno, Cal., has worked out a simple classroom structure for 
open-air school work that can be built for about $500. Through a 
covered passageway this unit connects with others, and a completed 
plant that will accommodate about 150 pupils, as illustrated in 
figure 22, can be built at an estimated cost of from $6,000 to $10,000. 








Fig. 16. — Cherr.v Street Open-air School, Toledo, Ohio. 

The open-air school idea is beginning to influence the architecture 
of regular school buildings. A notable example in this line is the 
Eagle School in Cleveland, Ohio. Careful attention has been given 
to placing of windows, to heating and ventilation throughout the 
whole building, and the top floor is built for open-air school pur- 
poses. The plan of the third floor of this building is shown in 
figure 23. 

An interesting example of an open-air school building is that at 
Coronado, Cal. This is a concrete structure of mission type, with 
French doors on one side and high transom windows on the other. 
One whole side can thus be thrown open. It provides for all the 



SITES ATs^D BUILDINGS. 



29 



children of the grammar grades, and is maintained by the public 
school authorities. 











Many such schools are being constructed throughout California 
and in other States where the climate is favorable. Other schools 
with specially designed open-air rooms are the Steele School in 



30 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 



Denver, Colo., and the Marr and Stephens Schools in Detroit, Mich. 
In Boston. Philadelphia, and other cities all the ne^Y school build- 




FiG. 19. — Edward Mott Moore 0pen-;iir Schuul, Rochester, N. Y. 

ings are making some provision for open-air school work, iisiuilh^ 
one or more rooms of this type being built in each schoolhouse. 




Fifi. 20.— First-floor plans, Edward Mott Moore Opon-air School, IJocbester. N. V. 

It is natural that people should ask with increasing frequency, 
" Why not open-air schools for normal children ? " This idea was 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



31 



\-oiced by a pupil in one of the Chicago open-air schools who brought 
a little companion to the doctor and eagerly- asked. " Say, Doctor, 
how sick has a feller got to be to get in this 'ere school ? " 




Fig. 21. — Secoud-lJuoi- plans. Edward Mott Moore Opea-air School. 

Figure 25 illustrates an open-air school for normal children, built 
in Canton, ^lass. John C. Davis, superintendent of schools of that 
citv. says, in the Journal of Education for March. 1914: 




Fig. -'2. — Plan for complete school plant composed of uuils of Fresno type. .John B. 

Woollett. architect. 

All examintUion of the plans (if the proposed new 4-rooiii elementary school 
building at Canton, INIas.s., will reveal several features as yet entirely new 
in schoolhouse construction. Perhaps the most important departure from 



32 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



the ordinary is tlie elimination of the darlv shaft for the admission of air 
and the substitution of the monitor roof system of ventilation which has 
been successfully M'orked out at the INIassachusetts Hospital school under 
the direction of the superintendent, Dr. John E. Fish. It also has four outdoor 
rooms opening directly from the schoolrooms, where some of the school 
work will be carried on in pleasant weather and where all the games, folk 
dances, and other physical exercises will take place. There are no rooms 




i:::::A::::A::::Xh 



Open Am 



iJ 



C\-AU Rm 



&=z 



19 



Tmird FLGDJ3 Plan 

Fig. 23. — Third-floor plan, Eagle School, Cleveland, Ohio. 

in the basement to be used by either pupils or teachers. Each room has its 
own toilets, placed where they are easily supervised by the teacher ; this 
arrangement does away with the very undesirable association of older and 
younger pupils in basement toilets. 

The building committee spent a great deal of time in consultation with 
architects and medical experts in regard to schoolhouse ventilation. The 
plans of the new building call for direct heating by means of radiators 
and coils around the walls of each schoolroom. Fresh, cold air is admitted 



SITES AND BUILDINGS. 



33 



through the windows, some of which open to the tioor ; this aii" becoming lieated, 
passes along the curved ceiling and out the monitors at the top. The proper 
slope of the ceiling has been determined after much experimenting at the 
Massachusetts Hospital school, and is the angle at which air was found to 
flow most freely. The monitor openings are easily controlled by a wheel on 
each side of the room, a slight turn opening all the monitors on one side. 

This building is an attempt to get more fresh air and at a lower temperature, 
and when the weather permits, to enable each teacher at a moment's notice 
to turn her classroom into what is practically an open-air room without dis- 
turbance to any other room. 

Outdoor air has qualities which air admitted through stacks and over 
heat coils can never possess, however much humidifying and washing is done 
regardless of expense. If fresh air is good for anemic and tuberculous chil- 
dren, is it not advisable to provide fresh air as a means of lieeping children 
well? A careful record will be kept of children in this building both as to 
liealth and progress in their school work as compared with children in other 
school buildings in town. This is to be the subject of a report to the school 
committee at a later date. 




Fig. 24.--(;ramuuir School, Corouado. Cal. 

In the judgment of the building committee, tliis building means for the 
children who occupy it less anemia, fewer head colds, fewer adenoids, fewer 
diseased tonsils, and fewer cases of tuberculosis. It is the gospel of fresh 
air and sunshine applied to schoolhouse construction. 

There are open-air schools, public and private, for normal chil- 
dren in 30 cities in 8 States. The movement has grown, and just 
as there has been a marked change in the construction of dwelling- 
houses, so the demands for better ventilation and more stimulating 
working conditions are modifying schoolhouse architecture. People 
are beginning to realize that the pleasure and profit which should 
be derived from meetings and assemblages in audience rooms of ditz 
ferent kinds is greatly reduced by improper heating and ventilation. 
Public speakers are conscious of the added strain of talking to audi- 
ences who are in a half-asphyxiated condition. School-teachers 
know only too well the nervous strain and overtaxing of nerves 
07855°— Bull. 23—17 P. 



34 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 



that come from trying to teach children who are in a similar con- 
dition. It is beginning to be realized that one of the biggest pos- 
sibilities of loss in efficiency exists in the schoolrooms of the United 



':„ ."'■''■.• Z''-^.! A V,,, '/'•'' 



■°^r f?S^YJi'^.n 



np^ f'l nr^W'SM 





^vW^. 



Fig. 25. — Revere School, Canton, Mass. 



States, where 20,000,000 children are supposed to spend 100,000.000 
hours a day every school day of the year. 

It required the breath of life to make man a living soul, and it 
likewise requires pure clean air to make and keep a living body. 



Chapter II. 
EQUIPMENT AND COST OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



The ideal equipment for an open-air school is still in process of 
evolution. The United States has been able to learn little from 
Europe in this regard because the European open-air schools are, 
for the most part, in session only from May until October, and the 
weather, save in the extreme east, seldom attains the severity which 
it does in the Northern States. American cities that carry on fresh- 
air schools for public-school children in very cold weather are still 
resorting to all kinds of experimental devices to protect the children 
from storm and cold. Only the undeniable benefits that come from 
the stimulation of the fresh cold air could justify the trouble and 
expense involved. The demonstrable results, however, convert the 
most skeptical. 

CLOTHING. 

Clothing the child properly for winter weather is no easy task. 
American houses are proverbially overheated; and schoolrooms, 
where the temperature is supposed to be regulated by law. as a mat- 
ter of fact are often equal offenders. If children are dressed to be 
comfortable at home, they are often too thinly clad for the street 
or overburdened with heavy Avraps. If they are sensibly prepared 
for the street, they are uncomfortably hot for the school. 

Under any conditions safeguards must be thrown about the transi- 
tion from an overheated atmosphere to the keen and nipping air of 
out-of-doors. This is particularly true in the case of delicate chil- 
dren. It is of the utmost importance to see that such children are 
carefully clothed and wrappied. 

The method usually followed by the open-air schools is to provide 
wraps of one kind or another, to install a system of feeding, and 
to modify someAvhat the program of the ordinary school by the in- 
troduction of periods for bathing, resting, and medical examinations. 
All these features necessitate special equipment and clothing. 

The personal equipment needed varies with the location of the 
class. Pupils in a classroom on a roof, or in an unheated recitation 
room, exposed to strong winds, will require heavier and moie elabo- 

P»5 



36 



OPEX-AIE SCHOOLS. 



rate clothing than children in an open-window room receiving some 
heat. If the floor is warmed, it may be unnecessary to provide extra 
foot covering. The one essential is comfort at the minimum expense, 
and it may be noted in passing that a child's judgment can not 
alwaj^s be relied upon to decide whether he is comfortable or not. 
Open-air school pupils soon come to take a queer pride in their 
ability to withstand cold. Zero weather challenges their reputation, 
and rather than surrender to a mere thermometer, they will assert, 
even while their teeth are chattering and their noses are blue and 




Fk;. 'Zii. — The sitting-out bag used iu opeu-air schools in New 
York and elsewhere. 

pinched, that they are "perfectly comfortable." The condition of 
the children's hands is a good index of their comfort. It is a good 
plan, on cold days, for the teacher to pass from pupil to pupil and 
ascertain by actual contact whether or not the hands are cold. The 
nurse or teacher should always assure herself, by personal investiga- 
tion, that each child has on warm underwear and dry stockings, and 
extra articles of this nature should be kept at the school for use in 
an emergency. Experience teaches that children who are not sup- 



EQUIPMENT AKI> COST. 



37 



plied with clean, warm underclothing, good stockings, and warm 
shoes are much more likely to suffer from cold than are the others. 
Often the exterior appearance will mislead the teacher. 

The open-air school outfit in general use in this countrj^ has been 
developed from either the sitting-out bag type or the so-called 
Eskimo suit. 

The sitting-out bag is made from a long strip of heav}^ canvas, 
lined with blankets and doubled over at the bottom to form a pouch 
into which the children thrust their legs. Some bags come onlv to 




Fig. 



-The sitting-out bay lastoiis with metal snaps which 
are easily manipulated by children. 



the waist, others to the shoulder line; but the best design is that 
which permits one end to fold about the shoulders in the form of a 
cape. 

j\Ir. Frank H. ISIann, secretary of the Xew York City committee on 
the prevention of tuberculosis, who devised such a bag for use in 
the Xew York and Brooklyn schools, describes it thus : 

The gai'ment is made of heavy brown felt. The bottom is square in shape 
and reinforced with extra heavy material about 1 inch in thickness to protect 



38 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



the feet from cold weather. In addition the bottom is covered with a special 
detachable piece of canvas to insure against wear and tear. 

The system of fastenings was specially devised to facilitate convenience in 
getting in and out of the bag. A series of snap catches all the way from head 
to foot makes the means of access far more pi'uctical than the old way of step- 
ping in and out from the top. Hooks around the garment at the center enable 
the wearer to buckle it snugly about the waist. 

Another interesting new feature is the pocket at the side provided for hand- 
kerchief and mittens. 

These bags cost $4.50 to $5.50. They will last indefinitely. A cap, 
overcoat, or sAAeater, warm overshoes, and mittens complete the outfit, 
w^iich need not, all told, cost more than $10. 




Fig. 28. — This type of wrap allows too iniiny chances tor cold air to enter about ueck 

and shoulders of children. 



The chief advantages of these bags are the ease with Avhich the 
children can get into and out of them, the convenience with wdiich 
a large class of different-sized children can be equipped without spe- 
cial fittings, the durability of the bag, and the comparativel}^ low 
cost. 

Unfortunately, however, the sitting-out bag deprives the child of 
freedom of motion. He can not go from desk to blackboard without 
stepping out of the bag, and in cold weather this means either get- 
ting chilled or keeping quiet. The principal of a private open-air 
school for voung children writes: 



EQUIPMENT AND COST. 



39 



Tlu> iiuiiii objection to the opeii-iiir sdiool work in cokl weather is that, 
having put the children into their bags, I find in oi'der not to spend all my 
time in getting them in and out I have to keep them sitting for an hour and 
a half without much change of position. This is contrary to all my convic- 
tions ; but as there seems to be almost no restlessness or complaint I have 
concluded that the fresh air counteracts this disadvantage.* 

The Boston schools have discontinued the use of the sitting-oiit 
bags because of inability to clean them properly after continued use. 
Dr. Ayres, in Open- Air 
Schools, page 133, says: 
"The children are very 
apt to regard them as ideal 
places for collecting and 
guarding a miscellaneous 
collection of the treasures 
of childhood, including 
food supplies, which they 
store up for future possi- 
ble need." 

If the sitting-out bag 
completed the whole outfit 
which the open-air schools 
must supply, the argument 
about the cost of fitting 
might hold good, but the 
sAveaters, stockings, and 
caps must be of the right 
size, and this in itself 
necessitates taking meas- 
ures of individual chil- 
dren. 

The Eskimo outfit is a 
two - piece pajama suit, 
with hood, made of heavy 
woolen blankets. It slips 
on over the ordinary 
school clothing. Designed 
in the Elizabeth McCor- 

mick Open-Air Schools in Chicago, its picturesqueness has won wide 
publicity, and its utility has been demonstrated by five years of con- 
stant use. It gives perfect freedom of motion, satisfactory warmth, 
cleans nicely, and wears well. Its disadvantages are the initial cost 
and the necessity of fitting the suits to individual children. 

Four-pound single blankets, which are heavy enough for any but 
the most exposed open-air schools, can be bought at Avholesale for 




Fig. 20. — SittinK-out bag iissed at I'rovidenco 
(R. I.) Open-air School. Excellent lor lower 
part of body, but insufficient protection for neclc 
and shoulders. 



1 Letter from Mrs. Ada C. Beckwith, New Rochello, N. Y. 



40 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



about $4.85. They are 70 by 80 inches in size, and one will make a 
complete suit for a child under 12. For larger children three 
blankets will make two suits. 

For teachers and matrons a long hooded coat may be made of the 
blanket material. This coat is lined below the waist and slips on 
easily over outer Avraps or sweaters, cleans well, and is universally 
becoming. 

Eskimo suits for children are now handled by several commercial 

houses. They usually run 
in five sizes: No. 1 for 
children 5 or 6 years of 
age; No. 2 for those 7 or 
8 5^ears of age; No. 3 for 
those 8 to 10 years of age ; 
No. 4 for those 10 to 12 
years of age; and No. 5 
for those 13 and 14 years 
of age. The suits cost 
$5.15. Care must be ob- 
served either in ordering 
or making the suits to 
get them large enough. It 
must never be forgotten 
that they are put on over 
the child's ordinary cloth- 
ing, and often over the 
sweater or extra wrap. 

So simple is the pat- 
tern that groups of club 
women or domestic science 
classes can easily follow it. 
In Cleveland, Ohio, the 
girls in the sewing classes 
of the Technical High 
School made the suits. In 
Pittsburgh the chairman of the clothing committee of the Civic Club 
gave the use of two rooms in her house and the help of a seamstress 
for two weeks to the women of her committee who made, in that 
time, 26 of the suits, including two long Eskimo coats; one for the 
teacher and one for the matron. 

If mothers wish to provide their children's suits themselves, they 
ought to conform to the color and style of blanket recommended by 
the school. To introduce a variety of stripes, checks, and colors into 
an open-air classroom is to destroy that element of picturesqueness 
which contributes no little to its success. 




Fig. 30. — The Eskimo coat should be cut larj 
enough to go on over sweater or heavy wrap. 



EQUIPMENT AND COST. 



41 



The boots used with the Eskimo outfit are the so-called " lumber- 
man's boots." They reach to the knee, and the trousers of the 
Eskimo suit are tucked into them. The soles are reinforced with 
heavy canvas, which prolongs the life of the boot. They are slit 
over the instep, and eyelets are put in for lacing, in order to give 
greater ease in putting on the boots over the shoes; they cost $1.35. 

The fleece-lined, sheep-skin boot that can be bought for $1.55 wears 
out too quickly to be practical for the children. Some teachers prefer 
it, however, to the higher lumberman's boot. 




Fig. 31. — The Eskimo suit gives perfect freedom of motion. 



Recently a heavy leather boot, with upper part of felt, lacing 
nearly to the knee, has been placed on the market. It cost $2.50, but 
it will give double the service of the felt boot. It has also the 
advantage of permitting the child to remove his own shoes, which is 
not possible with the felt boot. The fact that the use of this boot 
requires the children to remove their shoes gives the teacher an 
opportunity to note whether the stockings of the pupils are wet or 
even damp, a very important consideration for the health and safety 
of the children. 

The warm overshoes with leggings, which some schools provide, 
while doubtless warm enough for open- window rooms, do not seem 
sufficiently heavy to protect against the cold of the roof schools. 



42 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 



A mocha kid glove with flannel lining gives much more freedom 
to the fingers than a mitten, and it will not crock or chap the hands. 
If it fits loosely enough, the children can easily handle pencil or chalk 
during the coldest weather. The gloves clean satisfactorily, and 
with ordinary care will last two seasons. The}^ cost about $12 a 
dozen. 

SLEEPING COTS. 

The introduction of a rest period into the open-air school program 
brings with it the necessity for further equipment. The earliest 




Fig. 32. — The luuiberman's boot, resoled with canvas. Cost, .$1.15. 

American schools, following the example of Charlottenburg, provided 
steamer chairs, but experience shoAvs that a child trying to sleep in 
a steamer chair almost invariably knots himself up into an uncom- 
fortable tangle of arms and legs which hinders deep breathing and 
prevents the complete relaxation which sleep should give. The chairs 
are heavy and awkward to handle. It is hard for a child to lift 
them oi- move them about, and few American <)i)en-air schools have 
room enough to avoid a certain amount of daily adjustment of fur- 
niture. 



EQUIPMENT AND COST. 



43 



A light-weight cot which can be folded into small compass is 
much to be preferred. For ease in handling and storing, a canvas 
cot which folds over at the 
head and foot into a rec- 
tangular shape is better 
than one which doubles up 
in the middle down its 
whole length. If the space 
which can be used for the 
rest period is limited, in- 
stead of the ordinary G- 
foot cot one may buy a 
made-to-order cot 5 feet 2 
inches long and 28 inches 
wide, which is quite large 
enough for the average 14- 
year-old child. Strips of 
heavy canvas across the 
points of greatest wear, 
and especially reinforced 
corners, prolong its use- 
fulness. Such cots can be ..,^ qq . , ^u ■ ^ ... . . ,. 

!• IG. 33. — .\ Ipather boot, with uppor pnrt Mt. 

bought for $3. Cost, $2.r^o. 





Tig. 34. — Tht ordiuury steamer <.bair is unhygieuie for chiklreu to sleep on. Note the 
uncomfortable positions in this picture. 



44 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Blankets or sleeping bags Avill be needed for the rest period in 
cold weather. The sleeping bag shown on this page can be made of 
canvas and lined with shodcW blankets at a cost of $4.45. It launders 
well and lasts indefinitely. One double blanket in addition gives 
ample protection without too great weight. In open-window rooms 
the double blanket alone is equally satisfactory. 

The care of this equipment requires no small amount of time and 
thought. St. Louis has devised a good locker in which cots, blankets, 
Eskimo suits, boots, and gloves can be conveniently stored away 
by the children themselves. Something of the sort must be provided 
for use at night and during vacations. Each locker space and every 
article of personal equipment, from cot to gloves, should bear an 
identifying mark. Numbers are better than initials, since articles so 
marked are easily transferable. Ordinary laundry labels marked 




Fig. 35. — Suggested type of cot for opeu-air us(>. 

with indelible ink prove satisfactory. Gloves should be fastened by 
tape to the coats. 

DISINFECTION. 

All articles of clothing, blankets, and sleeping bags should be 
laundered or disinfected at the end of the first half year of use, 
during the summer vacation and always at any change of ownership. 
Blankets ought to be shaken out and sunned frequently. 



EQUIPMENT AND COST. 



45 



A simple method of disinfecting blankets is to sprinkle a sufficient 
quantity of formaldehyde 
over them and put them 
in an air-tight box for 24 
hours. If a large num- 
ber of blankets are to be 
disinfected at once, they 
should be hung on clothes 
lines in a room which can 
be sealed and disinfected. 

The method here given 
is the one usually em- 
ployed by the Chicago 
Department of Health in 
disinfection of school- 
rooms. Formaldehyde dis- 
infection is most efficient if 
the temperature is above 
60° F. and the atmosphere 
not too dry. ^Vlien the air 
of the room (as in many 
steam-heated buildings) is 
very dry, the vent cocks 
of the radiators may be 
opened for a few minutes 
to permit the escape of steam into the room, or vessels containing 
Avater may be placed in the room. 

1. Ingredients for 1,000 cubic feet of air space: 

(a) Paraformaldehyde, 30 grams (7i drams). 

(b) Potassium permanganate, 75 grams (1S| drams). 

(c) Water (hot, if possible), 90 cubic centimeters (3 ounces). 

2. Procedure : ^ 

(a) aiake the rooms to be disinfected approximately air-tight by sealing 
with gummed paper all doors, windows, chimney flues, etc. 

(&) Freely expose all articles in the rooms; place clothes, etc., across 
backs of chairs, or hang them on a clothesline ; open books and 
place them on end ; open all drawers and closet doors. 

(c) Secure enough vessels or dishes, one for every 1,000 cubic feet of air 

space to be disinfected, put about 1 inch of water in each, and 
place the mixture pans in them. 

(d) Place in each mixing pan the contents of one carton of potassium 

permanganate (75 grams), 
(c) Measure, in the aluminum cup, 90 cubic centimeters of hot water 
for each outfit, pour over permanganate crystals, and let them 
dissolve. 




Fig. 36. — Locker devised by St. Louis Open-air 
School for storing cots and Eskimo suits. 



1 The local health department can usually be called upon for this service, 



46 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Procedure — Continued. 

(/) When all the pans used for the space to be disinfected have been 
prepared, pour into eacli the contents of a carton of paraformal- 
dehyde (30 f?rams). In doing this be careful to add the first 
charge of paraformaldehyde to the pan furthest from the exit 
left open, and then in succession to the others in the order of 
distance from the exit. Before adding paraformaldehyde remove 
all your surplus material and equipment from the room. 











A ^^! 


( 


d 


1 


\ 


I 






-p- 








€ 


lO 1 








^ 









£KK^ 









-^HH> 



-^/. 









^KK> 



^ 



^ 



^ 

f 

^ 



3. Length of time necessary for edicient disinfection, four hours. 

4. Always advise a thorough scrulihiiig and ventilating of the room al'ler dis- 

infection. 

{('Iiicdfjo (III.) Field lUnploijec's Handbook. 

liHiatu of Mcdirdi [mpcction, pp. 61-63.) 



EQUIPMENT AND COST. 



47 



BATHS, SCALES, AND OTHER EQUIPMENT. 

In schools where daily shower baths are given, each child must 
have a rubber cap and two Turkish bath toAvels. Paper towels are 
better for all other purposes. Soap may be provided in the liquid 
form more conveniently than in individual cakes. Toothbrushes, 
combs, hairbrushes, nail files, and other small toilet articles help 
to impress the lessons of personal hygiene which the open-air school 
aims to inculcate. The individual thermometers needed in schools 




Fio. 38. — Cloak rooms adjoining open-air class rooms have 
been fitted up for kitchens by the Chicago Board of 
Education. 



where temperatures are taken may be conveniently kept in a recep- 
tacle similar to that illustrated in figure 37. The top of the ther- 
mometer is thrust into a cork which fits the test tube, and the mer- 
cury end is suspended above a pad of absorbent cotton soaked in 
formaldehyde. 

In the interests of accuracy, the school scale with measuring rod 
should stand in the bathroom so that the children may be weighed, 
and their measurements taken without the variable factor of cloth- 



48 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



ing. A weighing slip of unbleached mnslin protects against un- 
necessary exposure of the person. 



FURNITURE. 



A list of the furniture needed for kitchen and diningroom for 25 
children follows: 

Kitchen equipment. ' 



Articles. 



Asbestos mats 

Bread board 

Bread box 

Bin, flour 

Bin, sugar 

Boi er, double 

Bowl, mixing 

Broom 

Brusb, scrub 

Can opener 

Cupboards 

Dish cloths - 

Dish towels 

Drainer, dish 

Egg beater 

Food chopper 

Gas range 

Kettle, stock, granite 

Kettle, potato, granite 

Kettle, tea 

KJnife, bread 

Knile, carving 

Knite, paring - - . 

Knives and forks pairs. 

Ladle, soup 

Measiu-ing cup 

Milk bottle opener 

Mop and stick - . 

Nutmeg grater 

Pail, gaibage 

Pail, scrub 

Pan, frying 

Pan, ginger 

Pan, dish 

Pan, roasting 

Pan, sauce 

Pitchers 

Potato masher 

Salt jar 

Scale, family 

Scrub cloth 

Smk, enamel 

Skimmer 

Spoon, basting 

Soap shaker 

Stool 

Strainer, soup 

Table, kitchen 



Toaster 

Towel rack. 
Do 



Total. 



Number. 



Size or kind. 



For the stove . 

Oval 

No.3 

25 pound 



China, 2 quart . 
Sm'aii.'!!!!!-!. 



Large . 
Dover. 
No.3.. 



4 gallon, with cover . 
10 quart, with cover. 

No.8 

Saw 



Steel 

Heavy tin 

Tin.. 

From the dairy. 



With cover 

Small 

Iron, No. 8 

1-9 bv 134 

Oval," 15 by 19 

With cover, 12 pound. 

Granite 

Enamel, 3 quart 

Wire 



25 pound. 



Approxi- 
mate cost. 



With back and drain board . 

Heavy tin 

do 

Wire 

3 feet high 



With drawer (28 by 48 
inches). 



For dish towels. 
For paper towels 



$0.06 

.25 

1.50 

1.25 

1.15 

2.25 

.35- 

.35 

.15 

.15 

25.00 

.14 

.90 

.55 

.15 

2.00 

25.00 

3.00 

1.35 

1.15 

.25 

.60 

.15 

.30 

.15 

.05 



.50 
.05 
.50 
.20 
.50 
.76 
.55 

1.10 
.29 

1.50 
.15 
.35 

1.25 
.15 
15.00 
.10 
.10 
.18 

1.75 
.65 

2.25 

.15 
.25 
.25 

96.73 



EQUIPMENT AND COST. 
Dining room equipment. 



49 



Articles. 



Number. 



Bowls, soup 

Chairs 

Cupboard 

Knives and forks pairs. 

Ladles, soup 

Mugs, enamel 

Plates 

Do 

Sauce dishes 

Salt shakers 

Spoons, dessert 

Spoons, table 

Spoons, tea 

Tables, dining room 

Tureens, soup ! . 



Total. 



Size or kind. 



No. 30. 



For the table 

White enamel 

3 by 3 

9 inches, edge to edge. 
8-inches, edge to edge. 

4 inches, edge to edge . 
Glass 



21 feet by 30 inches 

White enamel, 1 gallon. 



Approxi- I Approxi- 
mate price, matejcost. 



$0.17 

.60 

25.00 

1.90 

.15 

U.35 

.15 

11.40 

1.75 

.10 

1.20 

1.25 

1.15 



1.50 



$5.10 

18.00 

25.00 

2.25 

.30 

3.38 

.90 

3.50 

1.88 

.40 

.50 

.13 

.75 

40.00 

3.00 



105. 09 



1 Price per dozen. 




Fig. 39. — Supply-closet kitchen formerly used as a cloak 
room. 



In cities where open-air schools are financed by agencies other 
than the board of education the board can ordinarily be depended 
97855°— Bull. 23—17 i 



50 OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 

upon to provide the schoolroom equipment of desks, blackboards, 
books, etc. If one room is to serve for recitation and rest, movable 
chairs with attached desks are recommended. They give wide pos- 
sibilities of arrangement of floor space, can be chosen with reference 
to the size of the occupant, and otherwise conform to the usual re- 
quirements of school hygiene. Movable blackboards give the extra 
room for board work sometimes needed when the wall space is largely 
taken up with windows. 

The personal equipment and the articles needed for dining room 
and kitchen have been frequently provided by some private agency, 
but there is a distinct tendency on the part of boards of education 
to recognize their obligation in this regard. Since practically all 
articles remain the property of the school and never become the 
possession of the individual child, there seems to be no good reason, 
except that of expense, why other cities should not follow the example 
of Cleveland, Buifalo, Cincinnati, Eochester, New York City, and 
others in paying for all facilities that are necessary to insure to these 
children reasonable opportunities for preserving health and acquiring 
that modicum of knowledge which our conception of public education 
demands as the prerogative of each child. 



Chapter III. 

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF OPEN-AIR 
SCHOOL CHILDREN. 



An effort has been made to secure as careful information as pos- 
sible on the ph3^sical, social, and economic condition of the pupils 
who attend open-air schools in the United States.^ For this purpose 
a questionnaire was prepared and sent by the Bureau of Education 
to a number of open-air schools. The securing of answers to these 
questions devolved upon teachers, nurses, and physicians whose time 
was alreadv more than filled. Many of the points called for were 
not covered in any existing record forms and, as a consequence, it was 
necessar}'^ to make original investigations and to seek information 
from new sources. This often involved visits to the home, to chari- 
table organizations, conferences with parents, interviews with family 
physicians and other interested people. 

The points covered in the questionnaire concerning open-air school 
children were as follows: 

1. Total number in household? 

2. How many in household have tuberculosis? 

3. What relation are they to the child? 

4. Is any other exposure to tuberculosis Icnown? 

5. Estimate of income per month for family during six months immediately 

preceding admission of child to open-air school? 

6. How much rent is paid per month? 

7. Number of rooms occupied by household? 

8. How many of these rooms are used as sleeping rooms? 

9. Does the family occupy a detached house? A tenement? 

10. Have they a private yard? A vegetable garden? 

11. Is general intelligence of family held high? Medium? low? 

At time of admission. At end of school year. 

12. Cleanliness, gootl? Fair? Bad? Cleanliness, good? Fair? Bad? 

13. Ventilation, good? Fair? Bad? Ventilation, good? Fair? Bad? 

14. Overcrowded? Overcrowded? 

15. Irregular meals? Irregular meals? • 

16. Alcoholism? Alcoholism? 

17. Hour of retiring, of child? Hour of retiring of child? 

18. Does child occupy bed alone? Does child occupy bed alone? 

19. Room alone? Room alone? 

20. How many windows in bedroom? How many windows in bedroom? 

21. Are windows open at night? Are windows open at night? 

1 Special considerations have made the gatherings of accurate data difBcult. Both doctors 
and teachers have had all they could do to give the proper physical and educational care 
to the children, and records when made came as added duties. Those and other difficulties 
were encountered in getting information about pupils in open-air schools. When it came to 
matters of comparison of gains in weights, school attendance, and school progress, it has 
generally been impossible to get reliable information from regular school records. 

51 



52 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS, 



Replies were received from the following cities for the schools and 
number of children indicated : 



Tupils. 

7 
16 



Boston Mass. : 

Geo. J. Angell School 

L. Crocker School 

Lafayette School 8 

Washington School 5 

Winchell School 10 

Chicago, 111. : 

Burr School 34 

Foster School 33 

Franklin School 118 

Graham School 117 

Haines School 27 

Hamline School 37 

Holden School 38 

Moseley School 41 

Open-air Schools Nos. 1 

and 2 65 

Open-air School No. 3 28 

Seward School 34 

Sheridan (Phil) School 35 

Thorpe (Ole A.) School 36 

Cincinnati, Ohio : 

Dyer School 26 

Guilford School 24 

Cleveland, Ohio : 

Eagle School 97 

Murray Hill School 26 



Pupils. 



Ky. 



A \i (1 u b o n 



Louisville, 

School 

Minneapolis, Minn. : 

Geo. Bancroft School 

Peabody School 

Montclair (N. J.) School 

Newark, N. J. : 

Elizabeth Avenue School 

Montgomery School 

Morton Avenue School 

New York, N. Y. : 

Class Public School No. 12_ 
Class Public School No. 21_ 
Class Public School No. 33_ 

Oakland, Cal. : Hawthorne School 

Pittsburgh, Pa.: Irene Kauf- 
man School 

Providence (R. I.) School 

Rochester (N. Y.) School 

St. Louis (Mo.) School 

Schenectady, N. Y. : 

McKinley School 

Washington Irving School 

Springfield (Mass.) School 



15 

25 
29 
14 

15 
15 
15 

20 
19 
41 
24 

18 
25 
26 
45 

15 
15 



Total (16 cities, 40 

schools) 1, 263 



In man}' instances it was impossible for those who gathered the 
information to get full and complete answers, and it is therefore 
equally impossible to give detailed information on all the points 
concerned and for all of the children returned. These data haA'e 
been carefully studied and tabulated by a trained social worker. 
Not onl}^ have the returns to the questionnaire been studied and 
classified, but subsequent correspondence has been necessary to verify 
certain points and to get fuller information where answers were 
incomplete or equivocal. 

The first item in the questionnaire calls for the number in the 
households of the pupils in open-air schools. This question was 
answered for the families of 587 children in cities outside of Chicago 
and for 488 families of children in Chicago open-air schools. The 
average number in the families of these two gi-oups is 6.12 and 6.2, 
respectively. These a;re unusually large averages. It should be 
borne in mind, however, that the open-air schools, especially in the 
Ignited States, concern themselves with undernourished, physically 
debilitated childi-en. The size of the family is at least one of the 
factors in the ])roblem of insufficient food, 



SOCIAL AXD ECONOMIC COXDITIOXS OF THE PUPILS. 



53 



The number of rooms occupied by these families and the character 
of the dwelling occupied are matters of special interest in the light 
of the foregoing statement. The average number of rooms per 
family for the Avhole group was 4-}-. The prevailing tj'pe of house 
in the congested quarters of Chicago is the four-room fiat. Many of 
these fiats contain two rooms of fairly good size and two smaller 
rooms, just large enough for a double bed, but sometimes only large 
enough for a three-quarter bed. The family is usually restricted to 
the kitchen and possibly one other room during the day, and to the 
two bedrooms at night. 




Fig. 40. — A one-room apartment. In this home the mother worked in a factory, and 
the older girl was kept from s(*hool to care for other children. 



One room must, of course, be used as a kitchen; another ma}" be 
the living room, but this usually also serves as a sleeping room. The 
proportion of the living quarters used for sleeping purposes ranged 
from 45 per cent to 79 per cent. About 14 per cent of the families 
live in one, two, or three room homes. As a rule the incomes in 
these families are the lowest of the group studied ; as a rule, also, the 
families were large and in many of the homes conditions were such 
that good school work could not reasonably be expected from the 
children. In the majority of the homes each bedroom was occupied 
by more than two persons. This meant for some families four or 
five people in one sleeping room. In this connection it should be re- 



54 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

membered that there was an average of more than one tuberculous 
member for each family studied. 

Twenty-eight of the families studied, or 7 per cent, were living 
on their own property. In some of these cases, however, the house 
was mortgaged, and in their efforts to meet financial obligations the 
family itself lived in two or three rooms in order that they might 
rent the balance of the building and thus increase their mer.ger in- 
come. Some of the worst conditions of overcrowding were found 
in these homes. 

The average rent for all the families studied is $12.34 per month. 
This item varies not only as between different cities, but in different 
parts of the same city. For instance, the average amount paid per 
room per month in one district of Chicago by the families having 
children in open-air schools is $4; in another $1.97. In New York 
City it was, respectively, $4.57 and $4.16 per room per month for two 
different schools; in Pittsburgh, $4.25, and in Providence, R. I., $1.90. 

The question regarding the character of the dwelling was answered 
for 375 families and shows that 73 per cent lived in tenements and 
27 per cent in detached houses. A detached house does not mean, in 
this study, a separate dwelling for one family, but might contain 
two or three apartments. It simply means that the building was 
separated from other buildings by some width of air space. 

One question asked was whether the family had or had not a pri- 
vate yard and vegetable garden. There were practically no answers 
to the question from the schools outside of Chicago. It was answered 
by comparatively few of the Chicago families, and when answered 
was in the affirmative. These replies show that 60 families had a 
yard. It should be recalled that 73 per cent of the families of 
Chicago children covered in this study lived in tenements, and the 
yard was used in common by two or more families, and was prin- 
cipally as a space in which to dry clothes. 

The tenement districts of modern cities mark the final retreat of 
the children from a life in the open. Mrs. Albion Fellows Bacon, 
in her book " Beauty for Ashes," speaks of " the essential unright- 
eousness of the 25-foot lot." Tenement houses in congested quarters 
of large cities usually rob the child of both the front and back yard. 
There are often two and sometimes three tenements on one of these 
25-foot lots. When this is the case the essential unrighteousness is 
usually discernible in the children who live in such tenements. 

Nineteen of the families were indicated as having gardens. A 
garden meant, however, a vegetable or flower garden, and any little 
plat along the fence was called a garden. Any return of vegetables 
from such gardens would be comprehended in a few radishes, onions, 
beans, lettuce, and possibly peas. In no case were the gardens ap- 
preciable factors as a source of food supply. They were unques- 



SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE PUPILS. 



55 



tionably of value, however, in the life of the family, for, no matter 
how small or insignificant, they gave diversion and a profitable use 
of time to fathers and mothers as well as children. 

Window boxes, kegs, and other receptacles, where struggling 
plants and sometimes vegetables grew, were evidences of the tenacity 
with which people hold to the desire to grow things from the ground. 
Wlien the yard and the garden with their tasks and chores and pets, 
and chance for initiative in work and play and for the development 
of responsibility were cut away, and when the home shrank from the 
ranch, the farm, an individual house on a lot with its own garden 
and vard. to the three or four rooms on one floor leA'el of a tene- 




FiG. 41. — The kind of home that produces malnourished children. 

ment house, and when ready-made and ready-to-serve commodities 
were brought into the home, new conditions, problems, and responsi- 
bilities came into the schoolhouse. 

The question concerning tuberculosis was answered for 598 Chicago 
open-air school children and from 620 open-air school children outside 
of Chicago. 

Of 598 Chicago open-air scliool children, 

450, i. e., 75 per cent, were diagnosed as tuberculous (lungs, glands, bones, 

etc.). 
136, i. e., 23 per cent, were suffering from anemia and malnutrition. 
12, i. e., 2 per cent, were suffering from other defects (heart troubles, etc.). 



56 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Of 620 open-air school children in different cities, 

259, i. e., 42 per cent, were diagnosed as tuberculous (lungs, glands, bones, 

etc. ) . 
322, i. e., 52 per cent, were suffering from anemia and malnutrition. 
12, i. e., 2 per cent, were suffering from other defects (heart troubles, etc.). 
27, i. e., 4 per cent, not recorded. 

Those who are familiar with work of this kind know how difficult 
it is to get full and accurate information on this point. Families 
shrink from examination, often making efforts to conceal the fact 
that a member of their household has the disease. Moreover, it takes 
a minute and careful examination to discover tuberculosis in its in- 
cipient stages. Accordingly, these figures are undoubtedly below the 
mark. The questionnaire shows, however, that there was an average 
of 1.8 tuberculous persons in each of the Chicago families of open-air 
school children and an average of 0.8 in families outside of Chicago. 
In the city of Chicago the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium has 
clinics scattered over the city and a large percentage of the children 
in Chicago open-air schools reach these schools through the clinics. 
The absence of an activity of this kind in other cities might easily 
account for the smaller number of tuberculous children in open-air 
schools. 

These defects are the most prominent, but as the whole physical 
condition of the child receives attention, many other defects, such 
as diseased tonsils, adenoids, decayed teeth, and defective eyes, are 
discovered. Of 598 Chicago open-air school children, 188 had dis- 
eased tonsils, 165 had adenoids, 466 had decayed teeth, and 152 had 
defective eyes. Of 620 open-air school children in different cities, 
175 had diseased tonsils, 131 had adenoids, 347 had decftyed teeth, 
and 107 had defective eyes. 

The standard of living is a topic which has been much discussed 
in the literature of social and economic writers in recent years. The 
question of a living wage has been made the sole topic or has had 
an important place in many sociological and charitable conferences, 
and it is receiving more and more attention by all charitable organi- 
zations and associations whose work has to do with industrial or 
social conditions. In his book Principles of Eelief (pp. 34-36), Dr. 
Edward T. Devine gives $600 a year as the amount on which at 
that time (1904) a family, consisting of man, wife, and three chil- 
dren, could live in New York City and maintain a minimum standard 
of health and efficiency. 

In 1909 E. C. Chapin published a book on "The Standard of 
Living among Workingmen's Families in New York City." This was 
based on an extensive study of 391 budgets and working conditions 
in the year 1907. He placed the minimum income on which efficiency 
could be maintained at $900 to $1,000 (pp. 245-250). Since 1907 the 



SOCIAL AXD ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE PUPILS. 57 

articles consumed in laborers' families haAe risen in cost about 21 
per cent. 

In its annual report for 1912-13 the New York xVssociation for 
Improving the Condition of the Poor (pp. -lo-oO) gives data on the 
budgets of families cared for in its Home Hospital. This study 
jDlaces the minimum income on which health and efficiency may be 
maintained at from $1,000 to $1,150 for the Borough of Manhattan. 

One of the most definite budget studies so far undertaken was 
made in the years 1913 and 1914 by the funds to parents department 
of the Cook County (111.) juvenile court. This is the department 
which administers the mothers' pension work for Chicago and Cook 
County. The aim is to keep dependent children in their own homes, 
provided the mothers are fit persons, in other respects than financial 
ability, to have the care and custody of their children. The purpose 
of this work is not merely to keep people from starving for a given 
period, but to give such care to the family as may reasonably be 
expected to make efficient citizens of the children. A trained dietitian 
is in charge of this work, and a detailed study has been made of 
more than 1,000 family budgets. Actual items of expense were 
carefully tabulated, and the conclusions arrived at were based on 
purchases and needs of families dealt with in the courts. The 
conclusion reached by this study was that, in Chicago in 1913-14, 
an income of $75 per month was necessary to maintain a family of 
five or six in a state of physical and moral efficiency. 

It is not the purpose of this chapter to establish what a minimum 
standard of income should be, or to argue the merits of the conclu- 
sions reached by any of the authorities quoted. The purpose is 
simply to give the results of studies made as a background for the 
discussion of the social and economic conditions of children in open- 
air schools. Military authorities agree that men can not succeed as 
soldiers without being properly fed and nourished. They also find 
that it is almost as important to be well shod. The country is 
beginning to question whether its school children can do the work ex- 
pected of them on anything short of like conditions. 

It is realized, of course, that $75 in the hands of one family may 
accomplish very different results from the same amount in the hands 
of another family. But a certain amount of food, clothing, and 
shelter is necessary for everybody; furthermore, as human beings 
are constituted, every family, sooner or later, has its share of sick- 
ness and other unexpected misfortunes, and no income is complete 
that does not make some provision for medical and dental service, 
for sick time, rest, and recuperation. The families studied by the 
Cook County juvenile court were all city families, and the other 
studies also related to families living in crowded city districts. It 
is to be understood, therefore, that under such conditions there is 



58 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

no subsidiary contribution to the family's maintenance in the way 
of a garden, milk from the family cow, or eggs or meat from a 
poultry yard. Everybody probably knows families living on smaller 
sums of money than $75 a month, but conditions differ. 

It is to be remembered also that, in the studies referred to, the 
whole needs of the family are considered. The sums mentioned as 
minimum incomes mean that the family should take care of its neces- 
sities and that the earnings should not be supplemented by hospital 
or dispensary care, charitable relief of one kind or another when 
the misfortunes come. The amount given by the juvenile court 
through the " Funds to Parents Act " is to relieve the families from 
the necessity of receiving aid from any other source. 

The budget studies by the juvenile court of Chicago show the dis- 
tribution of the $75 per month about as follows : 

1. Rent $12.00 

2. Food 29. 00 

3. Fuel, light, and ice 5. 00 

4. Household expenses 1. 00 

5. Clothing and personal expenses 13.00 

6. Car fare 1 2. 50 

7. Insurance 2. 00 

8. Furniture ^ 2.50 

9. Education 1.00 

10. Care of health (including dentist) 4.00 

11. Recreation 2. 00 

12. Emergencies 1.00 



75. 00 

As a working basis for relief work the juvenile court treats the 
item of rent separately, because it varies in different families and 
in different parts of the city, and because sometimes families own 
the house in which they live. Since the average rent is about $12, 
an allowance of that amount is made in the budget. The remaining 
$63 is divided by five, the usual number in the family. This makes 
$12.60 per individual per month, and this is the basis on which 
budgets for families are calculated. Where there are six or more 
people in the family, the allotment is slightly reduced; where there 
are less than five, the individual per capita is increased. It is under- 
stood too, of course, that the needs of small children are less than 
those of adults or of children who are working. However, in these 
families ages average fairly evenly, and the sum mentioned ($12.60) 
is reckoned as necessary to maintain health, strength, and efficiency. 

Accepting this standard, therefore, for the purpose of comparison, 
and understanding that each one who reads this will reserve the right 
to establish his own standard, the adequacy of incomes of open-air 
school children covered in the questionnaire is as follows : 



SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OP THE PUPILS. 59 

The income was inadequate — 

In 329 of 371 Cliicago families, or 88.7 per cent ; tlie average income being 

$5.97 per individual. 
In 335 of 398 families outside of Chicago, or S-1 per cent ; the average 
income being $6.41 per individual. 
The income was adequate — ■ 

In 37 of 371 Chicago families, or 13 per cent ; the average income being 

$15.70 per individual. 
In 63 of 398 families outside of Chicago, or 16 per cent ; the average income 
being $18.83 per individual. 

The figures show that the families having an adequate income are 
comparatively small. Their average membership is 5.2, compared 
with 6.4 in the group of families having an inadequate income. Prac- 
tically all the families in Chicago below the adequate income basis 
are on the books of from one to five agencies which give material, 
medical, nursing, or other relief.^ 

The returns on the question of alcoholism were so indefinite and 
incomplete that it is impossible to give any definite figures. Alco- 
holism is clearly a factor in some of these families, but there was 
no medical diagnosis or other study aimed definitely at this problem. 
Obviously it would be impossible to give any accurate information 
on this question without such study and observation. 

In the Chicago open-air schools, where the services of a municipal 
sanitarium nurse were available, an improvement of home conditions 
in families of alcoholists resulted from the definite work of the nurse. 
In some instances measures were instituted to curb the ability to get 
liquor ; in other instances treatment in some institution was secured. 
Aside from the physical effects of alcohol, the cost of drink is espe- 
cially serious in homes from which open-air school children come. 

When the open-air school work was begun in Chicago it was be- 
lieved by many friends of the movement that three or four months 
in an open-air school would be .sufficient to establish a child's health. 
With favorable home conditions, and where the child has no very 
serious troubles, this may be true. The experience of the Chicago 
schools is that a much longer period is desirable for the majority 
of children. Where it has been possible to keep the child over a 
considerable period, it has been found that improvement is much 
more marked in the second year than in the first, and in the third 
than in the second. Many of the children in open-air schools should, 
in our opinion, have an opportunity to spend their whole school 
course in open-air schools. 

Facts set forth in this chapter give some of the reasons why this 
is true. Many of the children in the open-air schools have had 
several years of adverse conditions before entering school at all. 

1 This study of incomes covered the first half of the year 1913, when industrial conditions 
were normal in the United States. 



60 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLSw 

They are under height, under weight, under nourished; they have 
more than their share of defects; a large percentage of them are 
tuberculous. 

The infant welfare movement that has done such notable work in 
many of the large cities of the United .States has thrown a strong 
light on this subject. The work began in the care of sick babies. 
It was found, however, that even in babyhood it is often too late to 
begin after the baby has once become ill. The great feature about 
the infant welfare work now is to discover the baby and care for 
him before he is ill at all. 

The open-air school has helped to reveal the unfavorable condi- 
tions of certain children in the public schools. It has gathered 
these children together in small classes, and through medical work, 
proper feeding, and rest it has demonstrated that nearly all of them 
will respond and thrive under such treatment, and that it is profit- 
able to put forth efforts in their behalf. 

The friends of the movement realize, however, that bad housing 
conditions, inadequate incomes, ignorance, and other adverse en- 
vironmental conditions can negative anything that the open-air 
school can do for certain of these children. The final salvation of 
these children involves not only child care, but a readjustment of 
the child's w^hole environment. 



Chapter IV. 
LUNCHES— THEIR CHARACTER AND COST. 



Most of the children Avho have been admitted to the public open-air 
schools in American cities give evidence of habitual undernourish- 
ment. In 1913-14: the total number of pounds under weight for 210 
Chicago children on admission to open-air schools was 1,820.07, an 
average of 8.66 pounds per child. Only 24 out of 210 pupils weighed 
what the average child of the same age, height, and sex should 
weigh. 

Such clinical symptoms of malnutrition as undersize, pallor, 
loose and flabby skin, bad breath, bad condition of mucous membrane 
about eyes and mouth, are usually present. The children are easily 
exhausted physical^ and prove quite incapable of prolonged mental 
exertion. The body does not develop energy enough to stimulate and 
sustain the nervous system properly. 

Lack of adequate and properly prepared food and failure to assimi- 
late are the chief causes of malnutrition. The income of the families 
of open-air school children in 14 cities, as revealed in Chapter III, is 
clearly inadequate to cover the barest necessities of decent living.^ 
Society pays the penalty for this social maladjustment in damaged 
children. No mother, however competent, can purchase milk and 
eggs and fruit on a bread-and-coffee income. Few women are 
trained in a knowledge of food values, and those w^ho might, by Avise 
marketing, double the nourishment they give their children, have 
never been taught how to buy. 

A child can not assimilate food properly when such conditions as 
hurried and irregular meals and nervous exhaustion due to insuffi- 
cient sleep or irritation by vermin hinder the digestive processes. All 
these elements enter again and again into the life stories of the chil- 
dren who come to the open-air schools. 

Malnutrition is so prevalent among these children that out of 54 
American cities listed maintaining open-air schools for physically 
subnormal children there are only two that do not find it necessary 
to make some kind of provision for serving food at school. These 

1 See tables on p. 52, 

61 



62 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



are Denver, Colo., and Oakland, Cal. In both cases the fresh-air 
rooms are located in the good residence portion of the city, where the 
children's poor physical condition can not be attributed to lack of 
sufficient nourishment at home. 

Few of the American open-air schools except those at sanitaria 
and hospitals give more than three regular lunches a day, and most 
of them find two enough. These comprise ordinarily a breakfast of 
cereal and milk, bread and butter, and cocoa or some hot drink, and 
a noon dinner which includes soup and a meat course with vegetables 




Fig. 42. — The airy dining room of tlie Charlottenburg Open-air Scliool. 

or a meat course and dessert. The plan everywhere is to give the 
highest j)ossible caloric value consistent with simple and inexpen- 
sive meals. 

It is estimated that the daily ration of a child of 10 years, weigh- 
ing 60 pounds, should yield about 1,600 calories and be composed 
approximately of 60 grams of protein, 40 grams of fats, and 250 
grams of carbohydrates. The following table is based upon the esti- 
mates of acknowledged experts in school dietaries of Switzerland, 
Germany, and England, respectively: 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AXD COST. 63 

Daily food needs of the average child, aged 10 years, weight 21 to 28 kilos.^ 



Fat grams. . 

Protein grams.. 

Carbohydrates grams. . 

Calories" 

Calories per kilo 

Protein per kilo grams . . 



Tonsig. 



23 

48 

282 

1,531 

66 
1.7 



Erisman. 



41 

eo 

225 

1,540 

55 

2.1 



Crowley. 



288 

1,937 

72 

2.4 



Average 
of 15 

experts. 



40 

60 

250 

1,600 

58 

2 



I Table reproduced by permission from School Feeding, Louise Stevens Bryant. J. B. Lippincott & Co., 
913, p. 243. 

This estimate can easily be made to fit an older or yonnger child 
by serving larger or smaller portions of food. 




Fill. 43. — l>iuiu;j; rouni ;it I'ffculme Open-air Sthool, Birniinghani. England. 

Since the meals given at the open-air school are planned only to 
supplement the food given at home, and not to take its place, it is 
necessary to know approximately what the actual food value of each 
childs home ration is. In the Elizabeth McCormick Open-Air 
Schools in Chicago a definite effort was made to study these home 
meals. Each child was asked to write down when he came to school 
in the morning what he had had for supper the night before and 
what his breakfast had been. Dinners were provided by the school. 
The nurse who visited the home went over the records with the 
physician and was thus able to correct anj'^ obviously improbable 
statements. The reports gave a monotonous list of bread with tea 



64 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



or coffee for breakfast, and suppers composed mainly of cheap bakery- 
goods and fried meats. The diet of the poor is particularly deficient 
in protein and fat, since the food articles that provide these elements, 
such as milk, eggs, butter, and meat, are apt to be expensive. Home 
breakfasts in particular are rarely planned to meet the needs of grow- 
ing children. 

On the basis of such reports as these the physician in charge 
estimated that the children in this school, who were largely Italian, 
received about 450 calories at holne. It is safe to conclude that the 
pupils of the class who have thus far attended the public open-air 




Fig. 44. 



-Kitchen of open-air school, Rochester. The girls of the school do most of the 
cooliing, under the direction of a domestic science teacher. 



schools for physically subnormal children probably receive less than 
600 calories in their home breakfasts and suppers. In order merely 
to bring their food supply up to normal, at least 1,000 calories should 
be supplied during the day by the open-air school. Furthennore, 
the pupils are exposed during certain months of the year to extreme 
cold, and even normal children under such conditions need an in- 
creased supply of food to make up for the calories transformed into 
!)ody heat and given off. The private open-air schools recognize this 
fact Avhen they ser\e hot lunches during the winter to their well 
pupils from excellent homes. 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AND COST. 



65 



Students of school feeding agree that the school meal, if it is a 
midday dinner, shall supply at least one-half of the daily require- 
ments in heat units and more than half of the fats and proteins. 

At Eochester, N. Y., the daily menus are carefully worked out in 
the folloAvins: wav : 




I'm. -i'o. — Dimug rouiii ot Edward Molt Mooru Upeii-air School, Kuchoster, >>'. 

MKxr. 

Breakfast — Oatmeal with sugar and cream. A glass of milk. 

Lunch at 11 o'clock — A glass of milk. 

Dinner — Pot roast of beef. INIashed potatoes. Corn. Bread and butter. 

Baked apples with cream. 
Afternoon lunch — Cocoa and bi*ead. 



Milk. 



Food value of the Rochester daily menu. 
BREAKFAST. 



Food material. 



Oatmeal pound . . 

Milk (whole) quarts. . 

Sugar pound . . 

Total for 30 children 

Per capita 



Amount. 



Grams of — 



Protein. 



113.5 
180.0 



Carbohy- 
drate. 



49.6 
217.2 



450.3 
271.2 
453.6 



293.5 266.8 1,175.1 

9. 7 8. 8 39. 1 



Cost. 



0.075 
.360 
.070 

; .505 
.017 



97855°— Bull. 2.3—17- 



66 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 



Food value of the Rochester daily menu — Continued. 
11 O'CLOCK LUNCH, 



Food material. 



Milk for 30 children quarts. 

Per capita 



Amount. 



Grams of — 



Protein. 



150.0 
5.0 



181.0 
6.0 



Carbohy- 
drate. 



226.0 
7.5 



Cost. 



Cents. 
0.300 
.010 



DINNER. 



Potatoes (1 peck) pounds. . 

Beef (rump roast) do 

Corn (canned) cans. . 

Apples peck. . 

Brown sugar '. pound. . 

Milk (whole) quarts. . 

Butter pound . . 

Bread loaves . . 



Total for 33 individuals . 
Per capita 



121.5 
437.5 
38.1 
86.4 



240.0 

3.4 

166.8 



1,093.7 
33.1 



6.0 

641.2 

16.2 

120.0 



289.6 

289.1 

21.6 



1,383.7 
41.9 



999.0 



258. 3 

3, 597. 6 

430.0 

361.6 



963.2 



6, 609. 7 
200.3 



0.325 
1.120 
.300 
.400 
.066 
.480 
.300 
.200 



3.191 
.093 



AFTERNOON LUNCH. 



Milk (whole) quarts. . 

Cocoa can.. 

Sugar pound. . 

Bread loaves . . 



Total for 30 children . 
Per capita 



180.0 
26.6 



287.7 
8.6 



181.0 
32.5 



10.8 



224.3 

7.4 



226.0 

42.5 

226.8 

481.6 



956.9 
31.9 



0.300 
.115 
.035 
.100 



.550 
.018 



TOTAL FOR THE DAY. 



Per capita . 



278.8 



Summary for month of June, 1912. 
Twenty school days. Average attendance, 29, including three 
teachers. 
Total food values : 

Grams. 

Proteins 27,203.6 

Pat 32, 547. 05 

Carbohydrates 66,931.8 

Amount of food per capita per day : 

'■ ^ Grams. 

Proteins ^^- ^ 

Fat ^^- ^ 

Carbohydrates ^^^- ^ 

Calories ^' ^^^- ^ 

The daily per capita cost of such menus is from 14 to 15 cents. A 
similar diet plan is in use in Louisville and Lexington, Ky. ; Spring- 
field, Mass.; Detroit, Kalamazoo, and Ypsilanti, Mich.; St. Louis, 
Mo. ; Montclair, Newark, and Orange, N. J. ; Albany, Buffalo, Syra- 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AND COST. 



67 



cuse, and Utica, N. Y. ; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, and Colum- 
bus, Ohio; Allentown, Erie, Pittsburgh, and Williamsport, Pa.; 
Richmond, Va. ; and Kenosha, Wis. 

The menus which follow cost between 11 and 12 cents daily for 
each child, provided the buying is done at wholesale. The average 
food value is between 1,100 and 1,20Q calories, and the children in 
the Chicago schools have made as satisfactory gains in weight on 
this simple diet as they did in earlier years on a three-course dinner 
with two lunches. 




Fig. 46. — Domestic science equipment utilized for open-air seliool cliilclren, Auburn, N. Y. 

Sample Menus foe a Week, Elizabeth McCormick Open-Air Schools, 

Chicago. 

MONDAY. 

Morning lunch — Cocoa, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Browned beef stew, boiled potatoes, mashed turnips, bread, milk, 
farina pudding. 



Morning luncli— Milk, bread, apple butter. 

Noon dinner — Lima baked beans, cabbage salad, apple sauce, bread, milk. 



WEDNESDAY. 



Morning lunch — Milk, bread, sirup. 

Noon dinner — Beef loaf with tomato sauce, baked potatoes, cliocolate pudding. 



68 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

THURSDAY. 

Morning lunch — Cocoa, raisin bread. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, vegetable soup, rice pudding 



Morning lunch — I\Iilk, bread, jam. 

Noon dinner — Creamed salmon, mashed potatoes, bread, milk, stewed prunes. 

Average number of calories per child per day, 1,100. 
Average cost of food per day per child, 11 cents. 
Average cost of service per day per child, 7f cents. 

Total cost of food and service per child per day in Cliicago Open-Air 
School, 18* cents. 

There are few cities where dealers will not grant wholesale rates 
to an open-air school, even if the amount purchased is small. Twelve 
cents a day will provide for each child a pint and a half of milk, all 
the bread and jelly he can eat, a nourishing soup or stew and an 
inexpensive dessert. 

It is possible to work out a great enough variety of combinations 
to avoid the deadly institutionalism of "bean day," "fish day," etc. 
Racial and religious customs must be respected in planning the 
menu. Many children refuse milk at first, but a quiet insistence 
upon a little each day, combined with the example of their fellows, 
soon converts them. One of the most important services the open- 
air school can render is the development of a real liking for whole- 
some, simple food on the part of these children, most of whom have 
never known cereals or meat soups. 

Simple meals keep dowm the cost of service and equipment. It is 
quite possible to equip the cloakroom which usually adjoins an ordi- 
nary recitation room with gas stove, sink, cupboards, and kitchen 
tables at a cost of about $70. ^ The social value of the meal is better 
secured by a separate dining place than b}^ the use of desks in 
the recitation room for tables. The equipment need not be expen- 
sive. Plain deal tables scoured white or covered Avith Avhite 
oilcloth or laid Avith paper napkins for doilies may stand in any con- 
venient room. Good taste, as well as economy, should be considered 
in the purchase of dishes and silver. 

The simple act of breaking bread together may bring teacher and 
pupils into a new and delightful relation. A Avise teacher welcomes 
this opportunity of knowing her pupils "off guard " and gladly con- 
tributes the dignity of her presence to the common table. 

The children themselves can be trained to serve the food, to wait 
on table and. when desirable, to wash the dishes and put the dining 
I'oom in order. Unless the school receives cases of open tuberculosis, 
there is no need of sterilizing dishes. A hemmed square of un- 

1 See complete list of kitchen and dining-room orjuipment on p. 48. 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AND COST. 



69 



l)leaclit'(l innsliii, with a roiiiui opeiiing- for the head, makes a good 
apron for either boys or girls to wear Avhen on kitchen duty. 

In Sj^racuse, N. Y., and Providence, R. I., the teacher plans and 
helps prepare the meal. The Providence children bring a lunch 
from home and supplement it with one hot dish prepared at school. 
An assistant relieves the Syracuse teacher while she cooks the dinner. 
It is asking too much, however, to expect a teacher to carry such 
heavy work for an indefinite period of time. To teach an ungraded 




Fic. 47. — Au inuxpeusive kitchen equipment whicli has served Proviileuee, R. I., since 
1908. Only one hot dish is prepared at noon, however, and the children supplement 
this with lunches brought from home. 

room of 25 pupils is a serious undertaking, and she will need all her 
time for her school duties. 

A few cities are seizing the opportunity to make the work of their 
domestic-science classes more vital by turning over to them the su- 
pervision and preparation of food for the open-air school. In 
CleA'eland and Cincinnati, where the whole expense of the fresh- 
air w^ork is defra.ved by the board of education, the girls in the do- 
mestic-science classes plan and prepare the diets for the anemic 
pupils. These classes are all in public-school buildings. Where 
open-air schools are provided at some distance from the other 
schools, the plan might not be so practicable. 

At Columbus, Ohio, the young Avomen in the domestic-science de- 
partment of the Ohio State University have planned the menus and 



70 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



worked out the food values of every meal served at the open-air 
school, which is conducted jointly by the city board of education and 
the antituberculosis association. 

South Manchester, Conn., has utilized its school of household arts 
for practically all the work at the open-air school of 25 children. 
The department is thoroughly equipped with modern cooking uten- 
sils of all kinds and is under the charge of a capable domestic-science 
teacher. The school is attended by 75 girls, each one of whom receives 
a 2-hour lesson each week. The schedule is planned so that a girl does 
not repeat the same lesson period until after 15 weeks. The girls 
attend in classes of five, in the following manner : 8.30 to 10.30 ; 10.30 




Fig. 48. — Girls of domestic science class preparing dinner for children of open-air 

school, Now Britain, Conn. 



to 12.30; 1.30 to 3.30. In this way 15 classes are accommodated 
weekly. Each group moves up one period each week, thus allowing 
the girls to become familiar with all branches of the work. The fol- 
lowing program gives an excellent idea of the work done each day : 

A.M. 

8.00. Make cocoa. 

8.10. Put nuig.s and napkins at place on table. Put one plate of crackers, 

piled evenly, in the middle of each table. 
8.20. Pour cocoa into mugs. Wash kettle and cooking utensils. Put one 

shovel of coal on each side of the fire. Pull damper forward. 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AND COST. 71 

A.M. 

8.30. Clear tables, wash mugs, put crackers in tin box. Fill teakettle, 
bring in towels — if wet, liang on kitclien rack; if dry, fold and put 
away. 
9.00. Sweep diningroom floor. Sweep bathroom floor, wash and wipe the 
bowls. On pleasant days open all upstairs windows at top and bottom, 
except bathroom window. 
9.15, Prepare vegetables and dessert for dinner. 

10.30. Everything to be served at noon should be in its dish or kettle ready 
to heat at 10.30. Put kettle of water to boil for potatoes on front 
of stove. Cream one-half pound of butter for bread. Spread butter; 
put one bread plate on each table. Fill a bread pan with extra slices 
spread and ready to replenish bread plates during dinner. Always 
cut bread thin and arrange evenly, without crumbs on plate. 
10.45. If serving baked potatoes, put them in oven at this time. 
11.00. Anything to be baked, such as soufRe or scalloped dishes, should be in 
oven between 10.45 and 11.00. Put potatoes in boiling water for 
boiled or riced potatoes. Finish the cooking of all things to be hot for 
dinner. Set table. Put plates and soup bowls in warming oven. 
11.30. Arrange dessert on individual dishes, if it is to be served cold. Any 
pickles, butter, cookies, etc., to be served should be put on table 
at this time. Cooks and waitresses have light lunch. 
11.50. Fill mugs with milk. 

11.55. Serve food on individual plates. Place on table. 

12.00. Waitresses take place at left of hostess. Pass bread, always going 
first to the one at the head of the table. Pass other food as needed. 
Take plates to kitchen if more food is desired. When first course 
is finished and all have stopped eating, remove plates, two at a time. 
Serve dessert. Pass cakes, etc. During dinner the cook in kitchen 
replenishes plates brought out for second helping by waitress. Put 
kettles to soak as soon as empty. 
12.30. Waitresses and cooks serve themselves to dinner in kitchen. Fill 

teakettle. 
12.45. Clear table, scrape and pile dishes. 
P.M. 
1.00. Leave dishes piled in order, kettles soaking. Put soiled towels to 

boil every Friday. 
1.30. Wash kettles and pans, then dishes. Prepare any vegetables or dessert 
that can be made for next day. Wash spice jars and shelves every 
Tuesday and Friday. 
2.00. Empty all waste baskets. Sweep and dust diningroom. Clean bathroom. 
Wipe off tops of tooth-powder boxes ; brush up tooth powder ; scrub 
bowls with Dutch Cleanser ; wash and dry ; dust bathroom ; sweep 
floor ; empty towel basket and replace it. Wash out ice box every 
Monday. Make bread. 
2.15. Sweep upper hall, front stair, front halL Close upstairs windows. 
Wash windows when possible. Wash towels and hang straight to dry. 
Sweep and dust parlor. 
2.30. Put away cooked food prepared for next day. Empty milk cans, put 

milk in ice box, rinse cans in cold water, wash, and put on porch. 
3.00. Put food in fireless cooUer. Sweep kitchen floor. Wash linoleum. 
3.15. Wash inside and outside of teakettle. Set it upside down on draining 

board. Wash stove and black twice a week when stove has cooled. 
3.30. Close windows downstairs. Leave everything in perfect order. 



72 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

An idea of the combinations arranged niav be obtained from the 
following menu for the week : 

Monday: Hanil)iu"g steak, mashed potatoes, celery, lu-oad and butter, milk, cup 

custard. 
Tuesday: Roast beef, baked potatoes, creamed caulitiower. ))read and butter, 

milk, bananas. 
Wednesday : Roa,st laiub, s\\eet potatoes, succotash, English apple tart. 
Thursday : Minced lamb on toast, baked potatoes, tomato sauce, canteloupe. 
Friday : Stuffed baked bluefish, creamed potatoes, bread and butter, pudding. 

A cup of milk is always included in the menu. 

The instructor estimates that these dinners cost only 13 cents per 
capita. The children of the open-air school help to keep the cost 
of food low by raising many of their own fruits and A^egetables in 
a good-sized garden plat back of the school building. 

The provision of meals for one or two open-air classes can be met 
by a private organization or by a board of education without much 
difficulty. But when a citj^ like New York or Boston faces the 
problem of making open-air schools available to every child who 
needs them, the financial end demands serious consideration. It is 
significant that both these cities recognize their responsibility to the 
child with open tuberculosis by providing for him at public expenso 
in hospital or sanitarium schools. But the anemic or malnourished 
children, many of them in contact with open cases of tuberculosis 
at home, are estimated to form at the lowest estimate 2 per cent of 
the whole school population, and any plan that contemplates the 
care of all children of this class in a large city becomes a serious 
problem. 

Boston has worked out a plan by which every child in an oi^en-air 
class has a chance to purchase a glass of milk or a hot drink — cocoa, 
chocolate, broth, or chowder — at a cost not to exceed 2 cents claih^ 
Gas or electricity is installed either in the teacher's room or an ante- 
room adjoining the open-air classroom. In most of the classes the 
luncheon is prepared by the teacher; in a few it is prepared by the 
school matron. The children are expected to supplement the hot 
dish by a luncheon brought from home, and the school nurses are 
instructed what articles of food are best to recommend to the parents 
for these lunches. 

In buildings AA'here hot luncheons are served for the open-air 
classes the other pupils of the school have the same privilege of 
purchasing the hot mid-session luncheon, but the fact that the morn- 
ing session in Boston closes at 12 o'clock permits most of the children 
to go home for a regular midday meal. 

In New York City the committee on the study and prevention of 
tuberculosis of the Charity Organization Society provided food. 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AND COST. 



73 



equipment, and medical supervision for the first open-air classes. 
The board of education soon assumed the expense of equipment, but 
could not undertake to suppl3' the food. Realizing that their funds 
were limited and that the number of anemic children ran into the 
thousands, the committee early tried to determine whether the work 
could be successfully carried on without food. 

After three j^ears of experiments the supervising physician. Dr. I. 
Ogden Woodruff, concluded that except in isolated instances poverty 
was not the cause of the children's subnormal condition, and that irre- 
spective of home conditions they made substantial improvement in 
haemoglobin and general physical tone without the provision of 




Fn:. 4'.). - liidour lum-h lor open-ail' school pupils, Chicago. 

food at school. Accordingly, the two lunches of crackers and milk, 
which were previously given in the morning and afternoon, have 
been discontinued. The children may bring food from home if 
they wish. It must be remembered, however, that some heat is 
furnished in the New York open-air rooms and that none of the 
children are supposed to be actively tubercular. Dr. Woodruff does 
not Avish, however, to be considered as advocating running open-air 
schools preferably without feeding, for he believes there can be no 
hope of improving the nutrition of poorly nourished and anemic 



74 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



children by merely bringing them in contact with the fresh air. 
He says: 

We shall always include in a group of children picked out for the fresh-air 
classes those who are poorly nourished, those convalescing from illness, those 
exposed to tuberculosis or with a family history of the disease. The nutrition 
of these children we wish to raise to as high a point as possible; if we can, 
to a point beyond the normal. If we are going to attain a proper measure 
of success in this respect, it is certainly necessary to include additional feed- 
ing as an integral part of the work.^ 

Chicago's experiments, though conducted for a short time only 
and with a comparatively small number of children, seem to indicate 
that the anemic child will lose, rather than gain, if he is put 
under true open-air conditions without extra food. 




Fig. 50. — Lunching 



out of doors in the first open-air school in Hungary, 
dining room is only used in bad weather. 



The Indoor 



The difficulties which open-air schools have encountered in their 
efforts to collect money from children for their meals are due 
largely to the actual poverty of the families represented, and in the 
second place to the inability to compel the attendance at the open- 
air school of a child who needs the treatment but whose father re- 
fuses to pay, although able to do so, 

A tubercular child who is excluded from the public school by the 
health regulations of State or city can be forced into the open-air 
school by the compulsory education law, but with a mal-nourished 
child, exposed to tuberculosis in the home, but not himself a menace 
to others, it is in most places impossible to compel the transfer 
to an open-air room. 



1 Fifteenth Annual Report, City Superintendent of Schools, New York City, 
defective children, p. 55. 



Reports on 



LUNCHES THEIR CHARACTER AXD COST. 



75 



In the following cities the board of education already pays for 
the food served at the open-air schools : Hartford, New Britain, and 
Waterbiiry, Conn.; Cambridge, Chelsea, and Springfield, Mass.; 
Detroit, Mich.; Montclair and Newark, N. J,; Buffalo, Saranac 
Lake, and Utica, N. Y. ; Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, 
Pa. ; Providence, E. I. ; Green Bay and Kenosha, Wis. 

In Illinois the law permits cities of 10,000 population or over to 
provide diets for the tuberculous poor. 

The only State legislation in this country directly dealing with 
school feeding is a recently enacted law in Massachusetts which 
gives any city the right to provide meals for school children free 
or at cost, provided 5 per cent of the voters file a petition to have 




Fig. 51. — Lunch in an open-air school near The Hague, Holland. 

the question put on the ballot, and provided a majority at election 
time vote in favor of it. 

The Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Springfield, Mass., circu- 
lated such a petition in 1913 and the city voted to assume the food 
expense of the open-air school. 

European countries have long since incorporated school feeding 
into their general system of public education. School feeding has 
been made a subject of national legislation in France, Switzerland, 
Holland, Great Britain, and Denmark. It is national in scope, sup- 
ported by the municipalities in Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, 



76 OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 

Finland, Austria, and Belgium. Similar legislation is under way 
in Russia, Spain, and the United States. 

In Germany about 250 cities have some form of school feeding. 
The children are expected to pay Avhen able to do so. About one- 
fourth pay. At the Charlottenburg Forest School each applicant for 
admission must present a card filled out bj^ his father, which states 
the parent's trade, income, rent, number in family, and other facts 
which affect his ability to pay the nominal sum charged for school 
care. Children whose parents' names are already on the list of 
public or private charitable associations are admitted to free meals 
without question. 

The establishment of " Cantines scolaires," or school restaurants, 
was made obligatory in France in 1882. About 1,400 now exist. 
In Paris 68 per cent of the meals were given free during the year 
1908-9. 

In England the " Provision of Meals Act " of 1906 gave the local 
education authorities in England permission to install school res- 
taurants as part of the regular school equipment. Two hundred 
cities have introduced the lunches. Food is furnished at cost to 
those able to pay and free to the others. The same system is fol- 
lowed in the English open-air schools. 

In all these countries meal tickets are used by everyone, so that 
the children themseh'es need not know who pays and who does not. 
Free tickets are distributed only after a thorough investigation of 
the families who ask for them. 

This accords with the conviction of social Avorkers in America. 
The mal-nourished boy indicates something wrong with the family, 
and possibly with society as well. He can not be regarded simply as 
a detached unit reporting from the unknown at 9 o'clock every morn- 
ing and disappearing into space at 4 each afternoon. Any plan 
of school feeding which undertakes to deal with him alone is de- 
fective. 

The Philadelphia school lunch committee, Avhich has worked for 
four years under the careful direction of such experts in child care 
as Prof. Lightner Witmer and Dr. Walter S. Cornell, believes that 
a school visitor who will investigate and try to rectify wrong home 
conditions is an essential part of any well-rounded school-lunch 
plan. 

In the open-air schools the nurse makes this connection between 
home and classroom. If she adds to her general nursing informa- 
tion a practical knowledge of the food materials suitable for various 
nationalities and grades of income, her visit supplements the purpose 
of the school feeding in the best possible way. 



LUNCHES THEIR CHAKACTEE AND COST. 77 

There should also be a definite connection with some agency Avhicli 
will try to restore the family to that point of economic independ- 
ence where it can provide sufficient nourishing food for the child at 
home and pay for such lunches as are served at the school. 

Until that point can be reached, the advocates of school feeding- 
argue that they are justified in their efforts by the necessity of pro- 
tecting society from disease and physical incompetency, and by 
their avowed purpose to make the necessary provision of food for 
school children not a relief measure, but a means of education. 



Chapter V. 
HEALTH SUPERVISION. 



When the Russell Sage Foundation in 1911 tabulated the results 
of its study of medical inspection in 1,046 American cities, it found 
a " relatively chaotic " condition. " Medical inspection " might mean 
an examination conducted by physicians for the detection and exclu- 
sion of cases of contagious disease; it might mean tests conducted 
by teachers or physicians for the detection of defects of vision or 
hearing ; or it might mean complete physical examinations conducted 
by physicians. Dr. Ayres found that, while 443 cities had at that 
time " regularly organized systems of medical inspection," 279 other 
cities had " some sort of medical inspection." About one-fourth of 
these 443 cities employed school nurses, and about 1 city in 7 had a 
school dentist. The physicians almost always received inadequate 
pay for their services and frequently gave only part of their time 
for the school work. One hundred and six cities had placed the ad- 
ministration of the medical inspection in the hands of the city health 
department, while 337, or nearly three- fourths, depended on the 
board of education for health-inspection service. Though condi- 
tions have improved very much in the past five years, these state- 
ments still remain approximately true. 

In England and Germany the open-air school was first developed 
by the regular school authorities. In America the impetus came from 
outside, largely from the antituberculosis forces; and the initial 
health supervision of open-air schools has been for the most part 
financed by private agencies. 

In many cities, where the medical and nursing supervision of the 
open-air schools has been satisfactorily inaugurated, the work has 
later been taken over by the regular medical staff of the board of 
education or the city. This is a desirable arrangement if the board 
of education is willing to meet squarely the proposition that open- 
air schools demand a highly specialized supervision, and also that 
the class of children who attend these schools require much more 
time from both physician and nurse than the average school child. 

Cleveland has put one man, a recognized expert on tuberculosis, in 
charge of all the open-air school work of the board of education. The 
78 



HEALTH SUPERVISION. 79 

medical inspectors are instructed to refer to him any tuberculous or 
anemic children whom they find in their routine work in the schools. 
He is the court of last resort for diagnosis. He has personally in- 
spected all the children in the schools in the tenement districts and 
has carefully examined all who showed signs of tuberculosis infec- 
tion. For the school year 1912-13 this meant 5,138 inspections, 2,549 
physical examinations, and 503 reexaminations. He also planned 
and supervised the program of the open-air schools, which, in addi- 
tion to the regular school work, included a daily shower bath, rest 
period, and three meals at school per day. 

In Newark, N. J., the chief medical inspector of the board of edu- 
cation, Dr. George J. Holmes, has worked out a detailed scheme of 
supervision for the city's open-air school for tuberculous children and 
the three open-window rooms for anemic children. The essential 
features in his plans are as follows: 

Up to date no pupil has been permitted to enroll in the open-air class unless 
it is evident after a medical examination that he or she suffers with pulmonary 
tuberculosis. 

The cases are discovered by the medical inspectors in the various schools. 
Immediately the diagnosis is made by a medical inspector, the case is assigned 
to a school nurse to visit the home. It is her duty to obtain and record on a 
printed form a complete record of the family history, previous history of the 
pupil from birth, present history of pupil, and social history of family, also ob- 
taining written consent for the examination of the pupil by the supervisor of 
medical inspection. 

The pupil then visits the supervisor in his office, accompanied usually by one 
or more relatives. The supervisor at this time conducts a complete examina- 
tion covering the general condition of the pupil, recording weight, per cent of 
haemoglobin, height, the condition of the eyes, nose, throat, heart, lungs, etc. 
Should the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis be confirmed by the supervisor, 
the Von Pirquet tuberculin test is at once conducted and the results recorded 
at subsequent visits. Recommendation is then made by the supervisor to the 
superintendent for the transfer of such pupil to the tubercular class. 

This school receives a daily visit of a medical inspector whose duty it is 
to inspect each pupil for the presence of contagious or infectious disease ; to 
consult with the teachers and nurse regarding any pupil in particular ; to 
conduct a complete physical examination of each new pupil on arrival, record- 
ing his findings and making his recommendations in writing to the parents ; 
lo refer such pupils requiring treatment to the school nurse, with the request 
to make a home visit and cooperate in the cure of each defect or disease ; 
to weigh each pupil weekly, recording the weight on forms supplied, investi- 
gating and recommending for treatment and special care all pupils not gain- 
ing or losing in weight or running an abnormal temperature; to recommend to 
the supervisor regarding the cure and arrest of the disease and the transfer 
of the pupils cured back to the regular school. 

No pupil has been transferred back to its regular school or' permitted to go 
off the roll definitely without the weight, height, and haemoglobin index being 
recorded and a definite recommendation stating that the medical inspector 
finds the pupil well and the disease arrested, and not then unless his findings 
are corroborated by the supervisor after a careful physical examination. 



80 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS, 



The school nurse follows iip (he recommendation of the medical inspector 
in respect to each pupil, visiting all the homes, consulting with the parent or 
guardian with regard to the physical condition of the pupil and his needs ; 
making observation of the home conditions with respect to the housing, 
especially the sleeping apartments; inquiring into the nourishment of the 
inipil at home and his hours of rest; and instilling in the parent an interest 
in what is being done for the pupil and a cooperation which, with very few 
exceptions, has been appreciated, with the result that teeth have been repaired, 
tonsils and adenoids have been removed, glasses obtained, and a variety of 
surgical and other medical treatments instituted with i-esulting benefit to 
the pupil. * * * 

To be assigned to an open-window class each pupil must be subnormal in 
weight or in general health. This includes pupils who are anemic, frail. 




Fu;. 52.- Recurdins puLse ;iud temperature iu ;i Chicago scliool. 



under weight, or convalescent from disease. Each pupil is required to sub- 
mit to a complete physical examination by the medical inspector, which in- 
cludes weighing, measurement, and ascertaining the per cent of hremoglobin. 
The health supervision consists of the daily visits of a medical inspector 
foi- the detection of contagious disease and general supervision of the health 
of the pupils; the monthly weighing of pupils and recording of same; the 
examination of pupils for the detection of disea,se and defects; the home 
visits of the nur.se to bring about the correction of defects and diseases; and 
the improvement of health of pupils by urging that treatment be obtained, 
that home sanitation be improved, and that diet and hours of rest be properly 
regulated.* 



* See Proc. Fonrtli Internat. Cong. School Hygiene. Vol. II, pp. 103-119, 



HEALTH SUPERVISION. 



81 



The frequency with which observations are made of the children's 
pulse and temperature varies in different cities. A rise in tem- 
perature is the most significant index of the child's physical con- 
dition and often indicates something wrong Avhich would otherwise 
escape notice. Wherever possible the temperature should be taken 
at least once a day, preferably in the morning. The nurse should 
also take the weights of the children at least once a month, before 
and after vacations, and immediately after any prolonged absence 
from school. The weights should be taken stripped, and the scales 
should be frequently tested to insure accuracy. 

Not the least important contribution which the nurses can make 
to the extension of open-air work is the keeping of accurate records. 
They are the basis for reports on all work done either by nurse or 




Fig. 53. — Entrance oxaniiuatiou, Shurtleff School, Chelsea, Mass. 

physician and determine whether or not the children are making 
proper improvement. They are a form of health bookkeeping on 
which the budgets for succeeding years are based. 

The physicians and nurses assigned to special duty at open-air 
classes are probably doing the most thorough piece of health in- 
spection and valuable reconstructive work now carried on in the 
public schools. They have an unusual opportunity to set high 
standards of efficiency. The chance to do intensive work with a 
small group of children under the best attainable health conditions 
at school and adequate nursing supervision at home challenges 
every scientific mind. It is a hopeful, stimulating, and joyous task. 

Wherever open-air schools have been established the results have 
so conclusively demonstrated the value of careful health work that 
07S55°— lUill. 2^—17 (> 



82 OPEN-A-IR SCHOOLS. 

they have furnished a powerful argument for making such care 
available to all public-school children. 

In 1913 New York City created the position of medical super- 
visor of open-air schools and gave the appointment to Dr. I. Ogden 
Woodruff, who had for three years voluntarily carried on the work 
as a consulting physician of the committee on prevention of tubercu- 
losis of the New York Charity Organization Society. The duties 
of this position are to select from the regular schools those children 
who need open-air treatment and to supervise and standardize meth- 
ods of management in the open-air classes which are conducted in 
connection with the public schools. New York City cares for its 
tuberculous children in day camps or sanatoria. Dr. Woodruff 
examines the applicants for admission to these schools, but the 
medical supervision is otherwise in charge of the local attending 
physician. Dr. Woodruff is thus responsible only for the super- 
vision of the fresh-air rooms for anemic children and the fresh- 
air rooms for normal children. In a personal letter, which we 
print by permission, Dr. Woodruff outlines his plan of work, as 
follows : 

The initial selection and examination of the children is made by the medi- 
cal supervisor, as follows : 

First. From a group of children referred by teachers, school physicians, 
and nurses as seeming to need special care on account of their general appear- 
ance. But very few children in my experience can be chosen from this group. 
Teachers are very prone to consider a child's mental ability as an index of 
his physical condition rather than to refer cases on their physical condition 
alone. Both teachers and school nurses and the average school medical in- 
spector frequently mistake the sallow skin, particularly if accompanied with 
light hair, which characterizes so many of the Jewish and Italian children, 
for anemia. A record of malnutrition on a child's card is not always reliable, 
because in many instances the school inspector determines malnutrition by 
the comparison of the weight of a child with the average weight for that age. 
Thus among Italian and Jewish children a great deal of malnutrition may be 
suggested simply because these children are frequently somewhat shorter for 
their age than the American, Irish, or Scandinavian. Obviously in any such 
instance no true malnutrition necessarily exists. 

Second. A personal inspection of the classrooms is made by the medical 
supervisor, who selects those children which appear to him in poorest condi- 
tion. Here again certain care has to be exercised not to take too many chil- 
dren whose physical condition is caused by some local trouble, particularly 
adenoids. On account of the expression, the shape of the jaw, posture, and 
shape of t)ie chest which a marked defect in breathing produces, these children 
appear, I believe, in many instances, to be in poorer health than they really 
are. It has been my experience that unless the adenoid condition can be 
removed, little permanent or even temporary benefit can be obtained in the 
open-air class. 

Third. A third group of children is selected by cooperation with the associa- 
tion of tuberculosis clinics. At my suggestion this year the secretary of this 
association i-equested that a list of the schools attended by each child of 
tuberculous parents under the care of the clinics be sent in to the association. 

Fourth. In addition to children who are poorly nourished and anemic, par- 
ticular attention has been given to selecting children whose nervous systems 
seem to be distinctly unstable, both those of a highly nervous kind and those 
who have incipient chorea and who tend to develop it during the school 
year. 



HEALTH SUPEEVISION. 83 

Cluldron who give a history of frequent absences on account of ill health 
are also considered unless it is evident from examinations that these absences 
are due to the presence of some local physical defect. 

Cases of cardiac disease have so far been admitted to these classes ; but 
personally I am still in doubt as to the desirability of taking fairly advanced 
cases of heart disease into the so-called anemic classes. That these children 
remain in better health I think there is no doubt, but I have not yet made up 
my mind that it is right to admit cases so far advanced that there is little 
likelihood of the children reaching adult life, when such admission means the 
exclusion of other physically abnormal children Avho would be likely to reach 
adult life and become useful citizens. 

The physical examination of these children includes examinations for the 
heart and lungs with the children stripped to the waist, the inspection of the 
throat, examination for adenoids, for carious teeth, and of the glands in the 
neck. The examination for adenoids consists only in noting mouth breath- 
ing, uasal obstructions, and the presence or absence of a high-arched palate. 
If such defect is presumably present, the child is referred to a nose and throat 
clinic for a more thorough examination, or an operation, if necessary. Digital 
examination of the nasopharynx does not seem justifiable. 

The posture is noted and chest configuration, also the general condition of 
the child, the presumable presence or absence of anemia, condition of the hair 
and eyes. Anemia is now generally determined by the medical supervisor on the 
child's general appearance. The htemoglobinmeters with which one can work 
rapidly are so inaccurate as in my opinion to be of little or no value. The 
more accurate ones take so much time that it is not possible to use them. 

A child may be put in the class for anemics, or removed, only by the order 
of the medical supervisor. The parents' consent must be obtained. So far 
complete physical examinations have not been made at intervals during the 
year, but only on admission and discharge. The medical supervisor visits each 
class at least monthly. Heights and weights are taken monthly. No medicine 
is given to the anemic children. If tonics or drugs are considered necessary, 
the children are either referred to dispensaries or to their family physician. 
There is no special nurse for the anemic classes, but the board of liealth nurse 
in each school cooperates in the work. 

Boston has a director of school hygiene appointed by the board of 
education who has taken great interest in extending the open-air 
and open- window room work. Dr. Harrington thus described in 
the 1913 repoi't of the Boston school committee the method by which 
children are assigned to open-air classes: 

All children assigned to the open-air classes are selected by a complete 
medical examination by the school physician. Each child in the public schools 
is examined each year by the school physician. The findings of these examina- 
tions are given to the school nurses, to whom is assigned the follow-up work 
necessary to remedy or cure the defects found. The anemic, the glandular, 
and the undersized children are specially noted by the school physicians and 
school nurses for assignment either to open-air classes or to fresh-air rooms 
in the ordinary school organization. 

All children assigned to open-air classes are weighed and measured regularly 
four times each year. Those children not showing a gain are reexamined by 
the medical inspector or at the out-patient department of the Consumptives' 
Hospital, and are closely followed up by the school nurse. Daily temperatures 



84 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

are taken of children who do not show a gain in weight and who might be 
chissified as tuberculous. This temperature taking Is done by our school 
nurses. 

Each year the school nurses w^eigh and measure a specified number of chil- 
dren monthly. This monthly weighing and measuring was begun four years 
ago with the children then 5 years of age, and has been . continued during 
succeeding years with the children 6 years old, 7 years old, and 8 years old, 
respectively, each year. This year we weigh and measure all childreu 9 years 
of age. The primary object of this weighing and measuring was to establish 
a monthly norm of gain in height and weight of children from 5 to 18 years 
of age, inclusive. It has served, however, to give us a line on children not 
gaining in weight who otherwise might have escaped detection. 

All children living in families where there has been a death from tubercu- 
losis during the preceding two years are examined at the out-patient depart- 
ment of the Consumptives' Hospital, and are either assigned to open-air classes 
or, if found tuberculous, are sent to the hospital school at Mattapan. The 
school committee furnishes the school equipment and the teachers for the 
children assigned to the hospital. These children are permanent residents in 
the hospital, and do not return to their homes until cured.^ 

In Chicago the medical inspection of the public schools is carried 
on by the department of health. In 1913-14 there was a total en- 
rollment in the 273 elementary schools of the city of 332,248 children 
and an average attendance of 261,447. To cope with the enormous 
task of inspecting this army of children a medical inspector and a 
school nurse are assigned to field work in each of the 100 districts 
into which the city is divided. Physicians are paid from $70 to $80 
a month. They each give about three hours daily to the work. They 
pust perform vaccinations and exclude for contagious disease, and 
they are expected to give each child an examination for the detection 
of physical defects. Each man has thus, on the average, over 2,500 
children in his charge. 

Experience demonstrated the fact that these doctors, already over- 
burdened with their own duties, could not take time for the detailed 
examinations and daily supervision required for the successful op- 
eration of the open-air schools. Accordingly, the Elizabeth McCor- 
mick Memorial Fund, a private foundation which had borne all the 
expense of tlie open-air schools other than teacher and school equip- 
ment since the establishment of the work in Chicago, volunteered to 
employ the physicians. In 1913-14, 13 physicians on the salary list 
of the McCormick Foundation did the medical work for 19 open- 
air schools. Three of these men were chosen from the staif of the 
jNIunicipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium; the other 10 were school physi- 
cians on the staff of the department of health, already assigned to 
schools where open-air schools were located. The monthly reports 
of these men give an average for the year of 19.G hours' work for 
each school month, or practically an hour a day. 

1 Boston School Committoo, An. Rep., 1!)ir!, pp. 55-60. 



HEAI-TH SUPEPtYISTON. 



85 



During 1913-14 six visiting nui'ses were assigned to open-air school 
duty by the dispensaries of the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium 
and seven by the department of health. The Municipal Sanitarium 
nurses gave an average of two and a half hours daily to the open-air 
schools. The school nurses of the department of health found their 
own duties too heavy to enable them to spend much time in visiting 
the homes of the open-air pupils, and occasionally attention to the 
remediable physical defects was delayed, but their hearty support 
and cooperation never failed. 

The medical staff met bimonthly with an advisory staff of repre- 
sentative physicians. The general conclusions they reached regard- 




FiG. 54. — On a day like 



this, physiciau aud teacher need 
warmly clad. 



to see that children are 



ing the class of child to be admitted to the open-air school and the 
best way of caring for the pupils after admission are typical of the 
opinions held in other cities, and perhaps give as fair an idea as can 
be obtained of the health standards toward wiiich the open-air 
schools are tending. These conclusions are embodied in the follow- 
ing outline for the medical and nursing organization of open-air 
schools of Chicago. This outline was prepared by the supervising 
physician in conference with the attending physicians, the medical 
staff, and the director of the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund, 



86 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 



the superintendent of schools, and the president of the Chicago Mu- 
nicipal Sanitarium. 

REQUISITES OF MEDICAL NURSING SERVICE. 

Original medical examinations require about 30 minutes. Preliminary to 
such examinations the nurse should visit the home; secure, on form provided 
by the school, written consent of parent for examination of child and admission 
to school; should acquaint herself with sleeping arrangement, cleanliness of 
home, health of other members of the family, and arrange, if possible, to have 
one of the parents present at the medical examination. For accurate diagnosis 
the child should be stripped to the waist. 




Fig. 55. — Personal hygiene, Chicago Open-air School. 



There should be a reexamination at the end of the first term or the begin- 
ning of the second, at the end of the year, or when the child leaves the open-air 
school, and at other times if conditions warrant. Findings should be carefully 
recorded. 

At all examinations a parent, nurse, teacher, or matron must be present. 

Duties of attending physicians in open-window rooms : Visits should be made 
about 9.30, giving the nurse opportunity to make observations of temperature, 
pulse, and respiration, before his arrival. 

Daily routine will be about as follows: 

1. Conference with the principal regarding truancy, insubordination, re- 
quests for transfer, complaints of parents, granting of work certificates, and 
any condition bearing on health. 

2. Conference with tlie nurse regarding children needing special attention on 
account of new symptoms. 



HEALTH SUPERVISION. 87 

3. Examination of emergency cases or children suspected of having infectious 
diseases. 

4. Tliroat cultures should be made in diphtheria suspects if this has not 
already been done by the nurse, and a written notice left for the school in- 
spector, so that other children from the same family may be inspected. 

5. Daily conference with teacher with particular reference to children who 
seem to be lagging in their school work. Children will often begin to show 
incapacity for school work or irritable disposition several days before develop- 
ment of definite symptoms. The teacher having the children constantly under 
observation can be of great assistance to the attending physician in picking 
out children who need special medical care. 

6. Physicians should daily inspect classrooms, sleeping rooms, and dining- 
rooms — 

(a) With special reference to ventilation. 
(&) With reference to temperature. 

(c) With reference to odors which may suggest lack of sufficient venti- 
lation. 

7. Thermostats in open-window rooms and rest rooms should be inspected 
frequently to see that the maximum amount of heat is turned on, so that air 
currents in the rooms will insure the maximum change of air. 

Too high a temperature is evidence of failure to ol)tain sufficient outside aii*, 
and should be regulated by opening windows at the top rather than by shutting 
off heat. 

8. The outlet ducts should be frequently inspected to see that they are kept 
constantly closed. These outlet ducts, if left alone, permit bail air from other 
rooms to enter open-window rooms. 

9. The clothing of children should be observed to see that none are too lightly 
or too heavily clad for the temperature. This should receive daily attention as 
it is often found that on mild days children have sufficient extra clothing to 
keep them in mild and constant perspiration. 

10. Children who show frequent elevation of temperature, inability to fix 
iittention upon studies, or unusual fatigue, should be placed on all-day rest. 
It will frequently be found that all-day rest a whole week Avill bring about 
sufficient improvement to render this treatment unnecessary of repetition for 
many weeks. 

11. Children with acute colds should be kept on all-day rest and isolated from 
other children until completely recovered. 

12. Reduction in the amount of school work should be prescribed by the 
physician for all children whose physical condition unfits them for the regular 
routine of study. 

13. Observations of departure from normal are valueless lanless they lead to 
medical treatment which will correct the.se conditions. The physician alone 
should decide just what particular modification of the usual routine should 
apply to a particular child. 

14. The first requisite of an adequate physical examination is a complete per- 
sonal history, which should be obtained by the nurse in the home and should 
cover all the infections and illnesses from which the child has suffered, with the 
dates of each. This should be followed by as much more detailed information 
as can be obtained regarding the family history, with particular stress upon 
exposure to infection. Wlien tuberculosis is known to exist in the family it is 
important to discover whether the disease existed during the lifetime of the 
child and whether the child came in contact with anyone who may be assumed 
to have been an open case. Accurate observation should be made of height, and 
the degree of departure from the normal should be recorded. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



15. Single observations of pulse, respiration, and temperature are of little 
value, and conclusions should not be drawn regarding these factors until a 
sufficient number of observations have been made. 

16. In recording general appearance of the child, note pallor, fatigue, and 
relaxed muscular balance as indicated by the way the child stands. 

17. Teeth. — Number of decayed teeth should be recorded. 

18. Eyes. — In addition to defects of vision, records should be made of inflam- 
matory conditions, and careful search made for keratitis, which will often lead 
to the discovery of tuberculosis. Trachoma should be promptly detected. 

19. Ears. — Aside from defects of hearing, careful observations should be made 
for ear discharges, and these being discovered, very definite effort should be 

made for the removal of the 

cause, and plans for the effective 
carrying out of treatmerit. 

20. Nose. — Nasal obstructions 
should be a matter not merely 
of record, but should be followed 
up continuously until the defect 
is corrected in a way not detri- 
mental to the child's health. 

21. Adenoids. — If present may 
cause the velum to stand away 
from the posterior pharyngeal 
wall, and the pressure of this 
growth behind the velum pre- 
vents the reflexes of this region 
which are normallj' present upon 
depression of the tongue. 

22. Tonsils. — Enlarged tonsils 
should be classified according to 
the degree of enlargement and 
interference with respiration and 
the pressure of pus in crypts. 
The normal distance between 
lonsils is 1 to 1.2 inches. 

23. Glands. — More definite 
standards should be adopted for 
the observation of enlarged 
gliinds and their classification 
as to size and number, so that 
different observers recording en- 
larged glands will mean the 
same thing. Any palpable glands 
should be recorded. Submaxil- 
lary glands escape notice unless head is thrown forwanl. 

Numerous small pali)able cervical glands are more suggestive of tuberculosis 
than a few glands of large size. 

Large bronchial glands often produce a systolic murmur at the border of the 
sternum between the first and third rib when the head is thrown back (Smith's 
sign). 

24. Heart. — The discovei-y of adventitious sounds in the heart should lead 
to i-epeated examination, and careful differentiation should be made between 
functional and organic murmurs. 




Fig. oti. — Weighing in a specially devised slip. 
(Chicago, 111.) 



HEALTH SUPERVISION. 



89 



25. Lungs. — First examinntion ol" the lungs should ho sullieiently detailed to 
dotermiiie marked departure from the normal condition, leaving more detailed 
examination for subsequent and repeated observation. 

26. Sputum. — Sputum examinations should be made as frequently as there 
is acute increase of cough. 

27. Blood. — A Tallquist h.ipmoslobin estimation should be made at least twice 
a year. 

Nurses sliould observe : First, evidence of acute infection and new symptoms 
as they appear; second, signs .suspicious of contagious diseases (this should 
include observation of the hair, nose, eyes, mouth, and skin) ; third, throats 
on complaint, or changes in 
voice which might arouse 
suspicion ; fourth, tempera- 
ture, pulse, and respiration ; 
fifth, suitability of clothing ; 
sixth, cleanliness of teeth 
and skin; seventh, home 
conditions, covering all the 
observations on the family 
and social history chart, and 
sliould note on the chart 
changes which occur in 
home conditions, particu- 
larly acute illness in the 
family or other conditions 
of transitory c h a r a c t e i- 
which have a bearing upon 
tlie present condition of the 
child, in order that addi- 
tional rest may be pre- 
scribed for the child in the 
school to counteract tempo- 
rary unfavorable conditions 
in the home and to elucidate 
present conditions ; eighth, 
temperature and hygrometer 
readings in open-air rooms. 

Teachers should obserxe ; 
First, the adjustment of 
windows and screens ; sec- 
ond, that no child is unduly 
exposed to drafts; third, 
that children are properly 

clad — (a) that heavy sweaters, Eskimo suits, coals, and heavy underwear 
are not worn in mild weather; [h) that children are sufficiently clad when 
weather suddenly turns cold; (c) that children are properly attended to 
wlien they have wet feet ; fourth, which children have had glasses prescribed 
and that they wear them; fifth, which children fail to hear readily, and espe- 
cially failure of hearing on part of children who usually hear well ; sixth, the 
development of acute colds and nasal discharges ; seventh, development of signs 
of nervousness and irritable disposition ; eighth, development of listlessness 
and inability to concentrate; ninth, failure of interest in school work; tenth, 
increa.sed interest in school work, and whether it is due to elevation of tem- 




FiG. 57. — Weighiug in the regular open-air suit. 
(St. Louis, Mo.) 



90 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

perature or to general improvement of physical condition ; eleventh, evidence 
of chilling if children's hands are cold, for children will often suffer without 
complaint; twelfth, evidence of weariness in the morning, and should learn 
if due to late hours at home; thirteenth, cleanliness; fourteenth, personal 
habits of children ; fifteenth, restlessness during rest period ; sixteenth, extreme 
lassitude and inability to waken; seventeenth, evidence of failing appetite; 
eighteenth, that on returning from bath the hair is thoroughly dry, and observe 
caution not to permit the children to return to schoolroom too soon after bath. 

Efficient nursing service is absolutely indispensable for carrying 
out this program. 

" The school nurse," says Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, " supplies the 
motive force which makes medical inspection effective." This is 
particularly true in an open-air school, where parents must under- 
stand what is done and cooperate in the work to an unusual degree, 
if good results are to be obtained. The nurse may be asked to help 
the mother plan an outdoor sleeping porch; she may need to teach 
her that milk and cocoa are better than coffee for a child's breakfast ; 
she must see to it that a boy goes to bed early and sleeps with his 
window open, instead of sitting until 10 o'clock in the foul air of a 
motion-picture theater; she must often show how to guard against 
infection through a tuberculous member of the household; and in 
all these instances she must be prepared to meet with unfailing tact 
and cheerfulness a frequent lack of comprehension which will yield 
only to repeated efforts and a sympathetic approach. 

The duties of the nurse in an open-air school and the points which 
she should especially observe in her daily visits are outlined in the 
preceding section. In addition she should be free to visit the homes 
of any children who are absent from school, and. if possible, on the 
day on which the absence occurs, unless information on the cause of 
absence can be obtained from a reliable source. If a child is absent 
from school for trivial causes, or if frequent visits to the home do 
not rectify conditions, a written report of the case should be made 
to the physician in charge. Each child in the schools should be 
visited in his own home by the nurse at least once a month and 
oftener if the case demands. 



Chapter VI. 
RECORDS AND FORMS. 



It is the purpose of this chapter to present some detailed informa- 
tion touching the kind of records usuall}^ kept for open-air schools, 
and to make certain suggestions on records in general. 

The record card should serve not only as an aid in the treatment 
of the individual child while he is in school, but taken together with 
the other records it should be so kept as to be of social value to 
the community. The physical examination should be thorough. All 
points should be accurately co^'ered and recorded at the time the 
examination is made, and not trusted to memory with the expectation 
of entei'ing them at some future time. 

The open-air school usually has certain record cards and forms 
in addition to those used in regular school work. Form 1 is the 
physical-record card used in the open-air schools in Chicago. It 
is 7 by 10 inches. It is an evolution developed from forms previously 
used. Before its adoption it was submitted for criticism and sug- 
gestion to different schools and to many social workers. The card 
has given satisfaction. A commendable feature is that it makes 
possible a comparison of the child's condition on admission and on 
discharge. It is an advantage to have this in easily comparable 
columns. 

The social-history card shown in Form 3 is kept by the nurse, 
and the aim is to give a picture of the child's home and environ- 
mental conditions. The difficulty to be corrected often lies in the 
home. The teacher and those responsible for the child's educational 
work can much more intelligently perform their duties toward him 
if they have an understanding of the conditions covered in this 
card. 

In Chicago and in many other open-air schools it has been found 
desirable to have a parents' consent card. As has been said, the 
physical examination of open-air school children is ordinarily much 
more thorough and painstaking than that given through health 
inspection in the regular indoor schools. Moreover, there is usually 
an immediate need of correction of physical defects. The uniform 

91 



92 



OPETv'^-ATR SCHOOLS. 



use of a parents' consent card makes it certain that the parent is 
apprised of the fact that his child needs some kind of special atten- 
tion. This card should authorize the physician to make such exami- 
nations and tests as may be required to reveal the exact physical 
condition of the child and to determine steps necessary to cure de- 



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fects, and should be signed by the parents. Forms 4 and 5 illustrate 
parents' consent cards used, respectively, in Chicago, 111., and New- 
ark, N. J. 

In order to make the physical examination thorough, the child 
should be stripped to the waist. Figure 58 illustrates a slip that has 
been devised in the open-air schools of Chicago, to be used in this 



EECORDS AND FORMS. 



93 



connection as well as in weighing. It is the practice in the Chicago 
schools to have the mother or the nurse present at such examinations. 

Forms 6 and 7 represent the face and reverse sides of the record 
card used in Cleveland. Ohio. The provision of this card for com- 
paring the weight of a given child with the normal weight of a child 
of his or her age, sex, and height deserves attention. 

Weighing should be carefully done. In the first place an accurate 
pair of scales should be secured, and they should be kept balanced. 
It is difficult to secure accurate weights unless the children are 





Form 2. — R<n-erse side of physical history card usc'd iu Chicago open-air schools. 

stripped. In Chicago the slip, already referred to, is used (see figure 
58). This serves the double purpose of making accuracy possible, 
and of meeting the sanctions of modesty. If children are weighed 
Avith their clothes on, there are numerous variables which make for 
inaccuracy. The Aveight of clothing is different in different seasons. 
It may also vary the same day or week, if children have been out in a 
storm and had their clothes wet. Sometimes children's pockets are 
full of jackstones and uiarbles and other possessions of childhood, 
and at other times they are empty. 



94 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



In selecting a standard for the normal weight, one should be sure 
of a number of points. For instance, the standard worked out by 



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Dr. P^mmett Holt, in his " Diseases of Childhood." varies somewhat 
from that of the standard arrived at by the Chicago Board of Educa- 



RECORDS AND FORMS, 



95 



tion in its study of weights of children. In Holt's standard both 
the weight and the height are taken with clothes and shoes on. The 
allowances for the weight of clothing for boj^s and girls, and for 
various ages, as set by Holt and by the Chicago Board of Education, 
are as follows: 



WeigJit of vlotliing given by Holt and by the Chicago Board of Education. 

[Based upon Holt's figures.] 



Ages. 



Boys. 



Holt. 



Chicago 

Board of 

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Girls. 



Holt. 



Chicago 

Board of 

Education. 



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5.5 
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Fig. 58. — Accurate weight taken regularly in open-air schools of Chicago. 

Forms 8 and 9 are the face and reverse sides of the record card 
used in Newark, N. J. This card is 5 by 8 inches, and will record 
a great deal of information in a small space. One point on the 



96 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

reverse side, the percentage of weight for height, is especially sig- 
nificant. 

Syracuse, N. Y., also has a 5 by 8 card which is compact and well 
arranged to show the results of attendance upon the open-air school. 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH-CITY OF CHICAGO 

DIVISION OF CHILD HYGIENE-PARENTS' CONSENT CARD 

PLEASE SIGN THIS CARD AND RETURN IT TO THE SCHOOL 

To the parent of 

Address Attending School 

In the interest of the present and future welfare of school children, the Department of Health is 
making physical examinations of the pupils in the Public and Parochial Schools. 
Please sign this card giving permission to have your child examined. 
When signed, return the card to the school. 
Parents can be present at the examination if they desire. 

G. B. YOUNG, Commissioner of Health. 

The school doctor is hereby granted permission to make an examination of the above named child. 



Parent's Signature. 



Date 191 

H. D.-M.501a. SOU 11-14 

FOKM 4. — rarent's consent card used in Chicago open-air school. 

Forms 12 and 13 illustrate a card used in the open-air schools in 
New York City. 

A uniform card is probably not possible or desirable for all open- 
air schools, because conditions vary in different places ; but there are 



Form 891 

BOARD OF EDUCATION 

NEWARK, N. J. 
DEPARTMKNT OF MEDICAL. INSPECTION 

191.. 

I, parent of , , .' „ 



living at .herewith request 

that the nurse of the Department of Education adopt such proced- 
ures for the proper care or treatment of such diseases or defects 
as in her judgment are necessary for the cure of my child. 



Signed 

FoR.M .5. — Parent's consent card used in Newark. N. .T. 



a number of points which all records should cover: viz, name, age, 
sex, height, weight, condition of lungs and heart, defects of eyes, 
ears, nose, throat, and teeth, orthopedic defects; number in the 



RECORDS AND FORMS, 



97 



family, number of rooms occupied, character of dwelling, rent, in- 
come, communicable diseases in the home. 

In many schools, especially those abroad, chest expansion is re- 
corded, and the Tallquist hemoglobin test is made. In the Char- 
lottenburg school and other foreign schools, systems of physical 



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exercises for the correction of orthopedic defects are a part of the 
school program and a matter of record. 

Records need to be carefully and painstakingly kept. The friends 
of open-air schools should in every way urge upon their constituen- 
cies the importance of including records and record keeping as a 
97855°— Bull. 23—17 7 



98 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



part of the necessary expense of the schools, and pains should be taken 
to get this information to the school board and to the public in 
usable form. 



THE HOME 

H. A. T.- 

Plumbing 



a 3 

s 

_ pi 

I 1 I 



HOME INVESTIGATION 



No. Rooms- 
Cleanliness- 



L. or D 

Work in Home- 



Name and Address of Landlord 

Porch, Roof, Tent, Garden, Woods Available 
Recommendations 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 

Rent— Aid from Societies . 



THE PATIENT 

Careful 



Intelligent or Ignorant 

Needed Food, Clothing, etc. - 

Sleep Alone 

Separate Room 



-Daily Quantity of Milk- 



- Temperate 



Separate Bed 
L. or D 



THE FAMILY 

Names, Ages, Health, and Occupation of Family- 



FoKM 7. — Reverse of record ca4.*d used in Cleveland. 



EECORDS AND FORMS. 



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OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



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OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



























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RECORDS AND FORMS. 



103 



104 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 



^ ? 



Chapter VII. 
OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



Founding and development. — In the school year 1902-3 the Char- 
lottenburg Board of Education undertook, more than it previously 
had undertaken, to adapt its school organization and methods of 
teachino; to the physical needs of the children. Discussions with the 
school physicians resulted in an agreement that physically debilitated 
children needed care in special classes along lines already followed 
in (lermany's school system for a number of years with mentally sub- 
normal children. 

In considering the particular needs of such children it seemed im- 
portant both to the schoolmen and to the plwsicians to transfei- them 
from the city to the pure invigorating air of the country. In the 
early discussions of this problem, the establishment of a school sani- 
tarium where children might stay day and night seemed to oft'er 
the only feasible solution. Dr. Baginsky, who had devoted much of 
his time to the needs of physical!}' subnormal children, had advocated 
such a plan for many years; iinally, however, the discussions led 
to the idea of a school for delicate children where both educational 
and health needs might be provided for, and the result was the 
Charlottenburg Forest School. 

While the discussions that developed this plan were in progress, 
the leaders of the movement Avere active in other lines. One com- 
mittee was searching for a site. In their quest they turned naturally 
10 the Griinewald, a wooded tract extending for many miles in the 
vicinity of Charlottenburg. An attractive site was found, and the 
real estate company which owned the land was easily persuaded to 
put a tract at the disposal of the school for a period of years. 

The domestic management of the school was another problem which 
was receiving attention. Dr. Xeufert and Dr. Bendix secured the co- 
operation of the Charlottenburg branch of the Vaterlandische 
Frauenverein. a nation-wide woman's organization affiliated with 
the German National Red Cross. This group undertook the house- 
keeping and nursing service and also provided a Doecker housekeep- 
ing shack, thereby saving $1,125 to the municipality. 

In May, 1904. the detailed plan was presented to the Charlotten- 
burg Board of Education and was accepted by unanimous vote. On 

105 



106 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



June 7, 1904, the school physicians gave their assent, and within a 
week the bill creating the forest school passed both houses of the 
municipal government, accompanied by an appropriation of $8,000. 
On July 5, 1901, the representative of the royal Government at Pots- 
dam gave his approval, and on August 1, 1901, the Charlottenburg 
Forest School was opened. Already the educational campaign which 
led to action by the different branches of the government had at- 
tracted nation-wide attention to the school. 

Site and equipment. — This first site of the Charlottenburg For- 
est School was in a vast forest of pines and firs, about 8 minutes' walk 




Fig. 59.- 



-General view of the buildings and 

School. 



grounds of the Charlottenburg Open-air 



from the nearest street-car station. On one side a mound of earth 
formed a natural boundary. The ground was covered with grass, 
ferns, raspberry and blackberry bushes. The air was pure, and abso- 
lute quiet gave relief to the over- wrought nerves of city children. 
The school building was a shack made of waterproof pasteboard and 
wood. It contained two classrooms, a room for the superintendent 
of the school, another for the teachers and the school equipment. 
One side of the schoolroom was almost entirelj'^ occupied by largo 
French windows reaching from the floor to the ceiling and swinging 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 107 

on hinges outward. Additional windows and transoms were provided 
in the opposite walls and in the roof. At the ends of the room were 
two wardrobe closets, one for boys and one for girls. Each child had 
a hook for his coat, hat, and satchel, and a shelf for his blanket, each 
item of the set bearing the same number. In bad weather the class- 
room was used as a diningroom and playroom as well. Instead of 
desks, the room was equipped with folding tables and chairs in order 
that it might be readily cleared for this purpose. 

At some distance from this building was a spacious floored porch 
or resting shed entirely open to the south, but protected against heavy 
showers by overhanging eaves. On the opposite side of the grounds 
was the housekeeping section. The main building was the five-room 
shack furnished by the Vaterliindische Frauenverein. It contained 
kitchen, nurses' room, a pantry, and two rooms for servants. The 
nurses' room was also used for the medical examinations. The 
kitchen had a small porch where much of the household work was 
tlone. In front of the housekeeping shack was a gravel-strewn space 
to indicate the children's diningroom. As there was no roof, this was 
used only in good weather. Planks were laid to keep the dampness 
from the children's feet. In addition to its service as a diningroom, 
the children often used it as a place to play, study, and recite. 

The supplies of the school were kept in wooden shelters near by. A 
cellar dug deep in the earth furnished a satisfactory place, even in the 
warmest summer months, to keep milk and other perishable foods. A 
big dog served as the guardian of the forest school at night. His 
kennel was near the supply shelters. The school was supplied with 
water free of charge by an extension of water pipes from the 
municipal plant at Charlottenburg. In still another shack were the 
lavatories and bathrooms — both showers and tubs — and in still an- 
other, separate toilets for the boys and girls. 

Gardens for the children were another feature of the grounds, 
each child having an individual lot. Another feature was the out- 
door gj^mnasium. Here by means of a high inclosure the children 
were given an opportunity for gymnastic exercises, affording sun and 
air baths for the whole body. This was used alternately for the boj^s 
and the girls. The site not only afforded additional space for all 
these features, but there still remained large areas where the original 
character of the forest was preserved. Small arbors were erected here 
and there, affording cosy spaces where the older girls especially loved 
to retire with a book or needlework. The immediate grounds com- 
prised about 8 acres. 

History. — The school opened with an enrollment of 95 children 
from the Charlottenburg public schools. The number soon reached 
120; it remained at this point until October 1, when some of the chil- 



108 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



dren graduated and others moAed away. The school was closed for 
the year on October 29, 1904. 

The teaching staff consisted of four teachers — three men and one 
woman. Other Avomen teachers gave their services afternoons to 
supervise and share the recreation period with the children. 

The school grew in numbers from year to year, and the period 
spent at the forest school was lengthened until at the present time it 
is open all the year excepting from Christmas until Easter. During 
that interval the children attend a special school in the city. The 




Fig. 



UO. — Children at the Charlottenburg School resting uuUer the trees. lu 
weather they use the resting shed shown to the back of the picture. 



forest school now accommodates 260 children, and there are 9 
teachers. 

In 1910 the forest school was obliged to move, as the site it occu- 
pied was required for the extension of the municipal subway. In 
this emergency the board of education of Charlottenburg made a 
10-year lease of an area nearly double the size of the original site 
from the Royal Prussian Department of Forests. This site is also 
in the Griinewald and is as easily accessible as the other. 

The shacks containing the classrooms, the housekeeping depart- 
ment, the resting-shelters, and the open-air gymnasium were 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IjST GERMANY. 



109 



transferred to the new grounds. The experiment had proved so 
satisfactory that the authorities gladly added new buildings and 
equipment for the jjlant. 

Adminisfrafion. — Even this brief narration of the establishment 
and development of the Charlottenburg Forest School indicates a 
corresponding deepening of the basic idea. Its founders realized 
that they were dealing with a vital problem and were not satisfied 
merely with having conceived the plan and provided the physical 
features necessary to its develoi)ment. They realized that the real 




Tig. 61. 



-At the Charlottenlmrg Open-air -School both boys and girls have separate 
wallod-in spaces for outdoor gymnastics. 



problem was evolving methods and principles. It is difficult to trace 
these steps, because inner progress and growth in an organization or 
institution like the spiritual development of an individual can not 
accurately be expressed by facts or figures. 

Class of ckildi'en to he admitted. — The first problem that pressed 
for solution was to determine and to set forth characteristics that 
made a child a suitable candidate for the forest school. The forest 
school afforded a new resource, and both teachers and physicians 
studied the children with that new interest which is born when an 



110 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

added practice or invention in the world offers a new possibility for 
discovered need. 

Both teachers and physicians decided upon much the same cases 
for this special treatment. The teacher was led to the conclusion 
because he wanted to advance the educational standards of the chil- 
dren, and the physician because the health of this type of pupils 
seemed to need special care. Thus it happened that the Charlotten- 
burg Board of Education and the organization of school physicians 
agreed to make the forest school — 

a recuperating place for anemic, nervous, scrofulous children, and children with 
slight heart or lung troubles, who could not stand the usual five or six hour 
period, but were not sick enough to be entirely exempt from school attendance. 

These children needed to be strengthened and their power of re- 
sistance increased by living as much as possible in the open air, by 
having sufficient exercise, by getting nourishing food, and if neces- 
sary, special baths. At the same time an adequate education had 
to be provided, so as to insure their keeping up with their grades in 
the public school. 

According to this agreement the following classes of children are 
excluded from the forest school: Children with open tuberculosis; 
children with serious heart troubles ; epileptic children ; children with 
chorea and the serious forms of hysteria ; children with open forms 
of scrofula ; children with contagious diseases. 

Management. — The school faced new administrative problems 
when it undertook to accomplish the twofold task of caring for both 
the educational and the hygienic needs of the children. 

The school site and equipment have already been described. The 
mere description of the plant indicates that the educational prob- 
lem in the forest school has to be handled in an entirely different 
way from that customary in the regular schools. The relations be- 
tween the teachers and pupils are also different. In the forest school 
the children are kept not only during usual school hours, but all day 
long. They even spend Sundays and holidays " at school," and are 
therefore under the supervision and in the company of the teachers 
for seven full days per week. 

The children originally admitted were pupils from the second to 
the seventh grade. Pupils of the first grade were not admitted, be- 
cause 6-year-old children, so delicate and sickly as to render them 
candidates for the forest school, are exempted from school attend- 
ance. In 1912 this rule was broken by admitting from the first 
grade 20 children who had begun their school life on the previous 
Michaelmas. 

The curriculum was the same as in the public school, with the 
modification, however, that only the essentials of every subject were 
taught. This made it necessary to shorten the periods considerably. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



Ill 



The time assigned to recitations amounted to 12 hours weekly for 
the second grade, 13 hours for the third grade, 14 hours for the 
fourth grade, 15 hours for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. 

Such classes as natural science, gymnastics, and music were con- 
ducted out of doors whenever possible. During the recitations of 
two grades the other children rested, played, or busied themselves in 
various ways. 

In 1912 the curriculum for the public schools in Germany was 
revised, and the daily program of the forest school was adapted to 
correspond to this revised curriculum. 

The six grades represented from the beginning in the Charlotten- 
burg Forest School had but two classrooms at their disposal; only 
two recitations therefore could go on at once. This made it some- 
what hard to arrange the educational program for each day. 

The lessons lasted half an hour; after each half hour there was a 
recess of 5 minutes; after each hour, a recess of 10 minutes. The 
children were never taught more than two hours at a time. 

Program for the first year of the forest sehool. 





Classroom A. 


Classroom B. 


Bays. 


Time. 


Grade. 


Subject 
(•> hour). 


Subject 
(J hour). 


Grade. 


Subject 
(J hour). 


Subject 
(h hour). 


Monday . 
Tuesday. 


8. 00- S. 55 

9.0.5-10.00 
10.20-11.15 

11. 25-12. 20 
3.00- 3.55 

4. l.'i- 5. 10 

5. 20- 6. 15 

8. OO- 8. 55 
9.05-iaOO 
10.20-11.15 
11. 25-12. 20 

3. 00- 3. 55 
4. 15- 5. 10 

5. 20- 6. 15 

8. 00- 8. 55 

9. 05-10 00 
10 20-11. 15 
11.25-12.20 

3. OO- 3. 55 

4. 15- 5. 10 
5. 20- 6. 15 

8.00- 8.55 

9. 05-10 00 
lO 20-11. 15 

11. 25-12. 20 


8 

8 
7 

7 
6 

6 

8 

6 
6 

7 
7 

8 

8 

8 and 7 

5 

6 

8 
8 

7 

7 
Sand 7 

8 

8 
7 

7 


Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Mathematics 

German 

Mathematics 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Arithmetic." 

Geography 


German 

History 

Catechism and 

Bible study. 

Geography 

German 

Writing 

Natural sc i- 
ence. 

Arithmetic 

Geography 

Writing 

Arithmetic 

do 


5 

5 
3 

3 

4 

4 
5 

5 

6 
4 
4 

3 
3 

6 

5 

5 
3 
3 

4 
4 


Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Arithmetic..".. 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

German 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Arithmetic 

German 

do 

do 

Arithmetic 

German 

do 

do 

Natural s c i - 
ence. 

German 

do 

Arithmetic 

German 

Catechism and 

Bible study. 

.\rithmetic 


German. 

Writing. 
Arithmetic. 

Writing. 
German. 

Writing. 
Natural s c i - 
ence. 

Arithmetic. 


do 


Geography. 




. . do 


German. 




do 


History. 




do 


Arithmetic. 




.do 


Writing 

Gymnastics... 

German 

do 


Local geogra- 




Music 


phy- 


Wednes- 
day. 


Catechism and 
Bible study. 


Arithmetic. 
Music. 






Arithmetic 

German 

Arithmetic 

German 


Gymnastics. 






German. 




Catechism and 
Bible study. 


Do. 
Do. 








T h u r s- 


German 


Arithmetic 

Writing 

German 

Natural s c i - 
ence. 


5 

5 
3 

3 


Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Arithmetic 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

German 


Do. 


day. 


do 


Writing. 




Arithmetic 


Arithmetic. 
German. 









112 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 
Program for tlie first year of the forest school — ^^Continued. 





Classroom A. 


Classroom B. 


Days. 


Time. 


Grade. 


Subject 
(J hour). 


Subject 
(ihour). 


Grade. 


Subject 
(§ hour). 


Subject 
(i honr). 


Thurs- 
day. 

Friday . . 


3. 00- 3. 55 
4.15- 5.10 
5. 20- 6. 15 

8. OO- 8. 55 
9. 05-10. 00 

10. 20-11. 15 
11. 25-12. 20 

3.00-3.55 
4.15- 5.10 
5. 20- 6. 15 

8. 00- 8. 55 

9. 05-10. no 
10. 20-11. 15 

11. 25-12. 20 
3. 00- 3. 55 

4. 15- 5. 10 

5. 20- 6. 15 




7 
8 

(i 
6 

7 
7 

8 
8 
7 

8 

8 
7 

7 
(i 

6 

7 


German 

do 


Arithmetic 

Gymnastics.. . 
Natural s c i - 
ence. 

Writing 

German 

Writing 

German 

do 


4 
3 

5 

4 
4 

3 
3 

5 

5 
6 

5 

5 
3 

3 
4 

4 

6 and 5 


German 

do 

Natural s e i - 
ence. 

German 

Arithmetic 

German 

Arithmetic 

German 

Arithmetic 

Geography 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Arithmetic 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

German 

Arithmetic 

German 

Gymnastics... 


.\ritlimetic. 
Writing. 


Geography 

Arithmetic 

German 

do 


History. 

German. 
Local geogra- 
phy- 
German. 




do 


Do. 




do 


Do. 




Arithmetic 


... do 


Geography. 




do 


History 

German 

History 

Arithrnetic 

German 

do 

Arithmetic 

Natural s c i - 
ence. 


Natural s c i - 


Satur- 
day. 


Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Arithmetic 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 

Geography 

Catechism and 
Bible study. 


ence. 

German. 

Do. 
Arithmetic. 

German. 
Do. 

Catechism and 




..do 


Bible study. 









The average size of the forest school classes is 20 to 25 pupils, as 
compared with 40 to 50 in the regular classes of the public schools. 
The forest school teacher, therefore, is able to devote much more 
time and attention to each individual child. But these 20 or 25 
children thus brought together in the forest school were selected 
from different public schools, and on account of their poor physical 
condition most of them had attended school irregularly. This meant 
that the teacher was obliged to spend considerable time in creating 
the uniform standard ,of attainment that is exacted in the regular 
public school. 

Moreover, the method of teaching had to be modified to meet the 
special needs of individual children. Health considerations came first. 
Mental strain and crowding, at the expense of physical welfare, for 
the sake of passing examinations or making grades was not tolerated. 
Such considerations also governed the teachers' attitude in matters 
of punishment and discipline. It was, of course, out of the question 
to deny meals to a stubborn child or even to exclude him from the 
games in which all the children joined. Severe reproofs, reprimands, 
ironical remarks, and even jokes at a child's expense were scrupu- 
louslj'^ avoided. Encouragement and praise and as much parental 
kindness as possible wei-o the means by which these children Avero to 
be ruled. 

Despite all these difficulties, and the considerable shortening of the 
periods, the children were expected to keep up with their grades at 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IX GERMANY. 113 

the public schools and to be able to reenter them on discharge from 
the forest school. If a child were slow in understanding, the teacher 
could not waste time during the period by further explanations. He 
would, rather, find an opportunity outside of school time for talking 
things over and remoA'ing the difficulties. In this regard it was a 
wonderful help that the intercourse between teachers and pupils was 
not confined to school hours. The everyday life afforded excellent 
opportunities for assisting backward children to conquer short- 
comings. 

The Charlottenburg Forest School, like nearly all the German 
forest schools, is based on the coeducational plan. While Germany as 
a rule does not favor coeducation in her schools, it is deserving of 
emphasis that no disadvantages whatever as a result of coeducation 
have been reported from the forest schools. On the other hand, 
beneficial effects were observed. 

Says Dr. Neufert, writing of the Charlottenburg Forest School : 

Many a duU and listless lad was seriously disturbed if the bright girl at 
his side habitually raised her hand quicker tlian he in response to the teacher's 
questions ; he soon tried very earnestly to equal her. The girls, on the other 
hand, were impressed by the boys' deliberateiiess and presence ot mind and 
answered less impetuously. The manners of the boys were decidedly improved 
by the presence of the girls, who as a rule were neat and well behaved. 

Medical care and supervision. — The selection of children for the 
forest school is made by the regular physicians of the Charlotten- 
burg public schools, but the physician of the forest school examines 
each case and admits the children. Dr. S. Bendix has been in charge 
during the whole period of the school's existence. Special attention 
is given to heart and lungs and general condition as indicated by 
complexion, development of the muscles, nutrition, and similar indi- 
cations. The findings are entered on a specially designed schedule. 
The weight of tlie child is taken on admission and fortnightly there- 
after. Since 1906, height, chest expansion, and the Tallquist blood 
test have been made a part of the record. Urine is examined only 
on special indication. This same thorough examination is given 
on the discharge of the children. 

During their stay in the forest school the children are under a con- 
tinuous medical and nursing supervision. In the early weeks of the 
school the doctor pays a daily visit. The same is the case the last 
three or four weeks of school. In the intervening time at least three 
visits a Aveek are made by the physician, and oftener if there is spe- 
cial need. 

Little medicine is given. Almost entire reliance is placed upon 

the efficacy of pure air, sunshine, and a wholesomely regidated life. 

There are many things, however, to which the physician gives stiict 

attention. He prescribes the dietary, advises as to the clothing the 

97855°— Bull. l.>3— 17 S 



114 ' OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

children wear, gives careful supervision of exercise and recreation, 
prescribes warm baths for seriously anemic and nervous children 
and saline baths for scrofulous children. In 1905 32 children received 
three saline baths a week. Each child is given two or three shower 
baths a week and a cleansing tub bath at least once a fortnight. 

Since 1911 special attention has been given to orthopedic defects. 
An examination by a specialist proved that many of the forest school 
children suffered from slight curvatures of the spine and other 
malformations. In the months of August and September, 1911, 
an experiment was tried with 40 girls who were suffering from 
curvatures and other orthopedic defects. The treatment consisted 
chiefly of specially devised gymnastic exercises. The results were 
so satisfactory that his scheme of exercises is now given to all the 
children who have such defects. 

The physician is assisted in his work by a Red Cross nurse who is 
responsible for carrying out his directions. She weighs and takes 
the height of the children and gives whatever help may be neces- 
sary in emergency cases until the physician can be called. As the 
nurse gives her whole time to the forest school and stays both night 
and day, she is able to supervise the housekeeping. 

The forest school's purpose is not alone to tide the children over 
a certain crucial period, but also to secure if possible a lasting im- 
provement in health. Since the children are nearly all anemic and 
underfed, a most important factor in attaining this purpose is food. 
The managers of the school reasoned that they could not depend upon 
the chance of the children receiving the proper kind of food at home. 
If the results were to be of any permanent value to the child and if 
the school assumed the responsibility for the results, the feeding had 
to be provided by the school. It was consequently decided from the 
beginning that the feeding furnished by the school should render 
the child independent of further home feeding. 
The following plan of meals was instituted at the school : 

7.45 a. m. Porri(l?:e of rice flour or rye flour, rolls and butter. 
10.00a.m. Milk (average 1 pt.), buttered rye bread. 
12.30p.m. Meat (3.2 oz.), vegetables, potatoes, legumes (6.4 oz.). 

4.00 p. m. Milk (average 1 pt), rye bread with jam or marmalade. 

G.30 p. m. Porridge of oatmeal, or cocoa or pie, buttered rye bread. 

Care is taken to give the greatest possible variety. Sample dinner 
menus will show how varied a diet was supplied despite the simplicity 
that prevailed : 

IMacaroni and smothered beef. 

Irisli stew. 

Mixed dried fruit, dumplings, and bacon. 

Carrots and pork roast. 

Porridge of barley and Frankfurts. 

Noodle soup and beef. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IJST GERMAXY, 115 

String beans and roast of mutton. 
A'egetable soup with boiled beef. 
Rice boiled in milk and pork sausage. 
Veal, potatoes, stewed fruit. 
Meat loaf, potatoes, prunes. 
Lentil soup with beef. 
Pea soup with pork. 

Both teachers and nurse are interested in persuading the children 
"with small appetites to eat their portion. The appetite once aroused 
is very seldom discouraged. Many children ask for a second or even 
a third helping. 

Since 1906 the attempt has been made to keep the most delicate 
children in the forest school until Christmas, and since 1909 these 
children have been retained in a special class and supplied with 
special treatment according to the forest-school plan. The forest 
school is open practically all the year around. The phj^sicians of the 
forest school may admit the same child year after year. It is there- 
fore possible for a. very delicate child to enjoy the benefit of the 
forest school nearly all his school time, or at least as long as the 
physician thinks necessary. 

The children reach school at 7.45 a. m. Some walk, but those 
living at a distance use the surface car line. The street car company 
provides a special car running on a regular schedule. A teacher and 
the children from a given district gather at the most convenient 
stopping place and go to the school together. On arrival, a breakfast 
consisting of porridge, rolls and butter is eaten. At 8 o'clock sessions 
open for two gi'ades and last two hours. At 10 o'clock a mid- 
morning lunch consisting of one or two cups of milk and buttered 
rye bread is served. Then sessions begin for two other grades, while 
the rest of the children play about the grounds or in the gymnasium 
or are busy with needlework or books. At 12 o'clock a bell announces 
dinner. The diningroom under the high fir trees is a feature which 
never loses its appeal to the children. It has an especial attraction 
on Sunday, when a dessert is added to the dinner. 

A rest period of one and a half to two hours is observed daily. 
For this purpose camp chairs and blankets are provided. At first the 
children objected to the rest hour, but they learned to keep quiet and 
after a few weeks nearly all the children fell asleep almost as soon 
as they settled in their chairs. At 3 o'clock the remaining two grades 
have their recitations. At 4 o'clock they have their afternoon milk, 
with brown bread and jam or marmalade. Some grades may have 
one or two periods after this lunch, but most of the children are at 
liberty to devote the whole afternoon to play and exercise and in the 
latitude of Berlin the summer afternoons are long. 

In November some of the children return to the city. During the 
latter weeks it is often necessary to use the buildings for the play 



116 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



periods. Practically the same regime is carried on in the special 
school which the children attend in the city from Christmas to 
Easter. 

Results. — -The Charlottenburg Forest School undertook to improve 
the health of its children, and it hoped at the same time that it might 
succeed in keeping them from losing in school standing. 

In order to discuss physical progress it is necessary to understand 
the class of children dealt with. The pupils in the Charlottenburg 
school may be divided into the following groups : 

1. Anemic children, i. e., children suffering from anemia and its 
consequences, rapid heart, headache, nervousness, nasal hemor- 
rhages, etc. 

2. Scrofulous children, i. e., children suffering from enlarged 
glands and other symptoms of scrofula, for instance, eczema, in- 
flammation of the eyelids, etc. 

3. Children with organic heart disease. . 

4. Children with positive pulmonary difficulties. 

Between August 1 and October 29, 1901, 122 children attended the 
forest school: 15 of these had to be discharged for one reason or 
another after a short time. Only 107 children stayed three months, 
or nearly three months, in the forest school. Their physical gains are 
recorded in the following way. 

Pysical results of three months'' stay at the school. 



1. Anemic children. 



Numlier. 



Deteriorated . 
Unchanged.. 

Improved 

Cured 



2. Scrofulous children . 



Deteriorated . 
Unchanged.. 

Improved 

Cured 



3. Children with organic heart diseases. 



Deteriorated . 
Unchanged.. 

Improv ed 

Cured 



4. Children with positive pulmonary troubles. 



Deteriorated . 
ITnchanged.. 

Improved 

Cured 



Per cent. 



2.9 
26.4 
32.4 
3S.3 



21.0 
57.9 
21.1 



50.0 
50.0 



4.S 
3S.1 
3S.1 
10.0 



Of course it is not to be expected that either organic heart disease 
or lung troubles can be completely cured in so short a time. The 
children with heart troubles are recorded as improved if certain 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GEEMANY. 117 

symptoms, siicli as rapidity luul difficulty in breathing, have de- 
creased or disappeared. The same is true regarding the children 
with lung troubles. An improvement in nutrition has always been 
considered a most important factor. 

The gains in weight are very striking; 118 children who were 
weighed on admission and discharge showed a total gain of 082.00 
pounds, or an average gain per child of 5.78 pounds. Sixty-seven 
children who had been in the forest school fully three months were 
present on the first and last weighing day (Aug. 2 and Oct. 29). 
They showed a total gain of 414.35 pounds, or an average gain per 
child of 0.03 pounds. Eleven of these children showed a gain of 
from 10 to 10 pounds. 

These results were attained by the plain and simple means of 
medical and nursing care, out-of-door life in all kinds of weather, 
exposure to the sun, baths, nourishing food, and a considerable 
shortening of recitation periods. The pupils looked like different 
children after the first week's sta}^ at the forest school. Instead of 
being pale and listless with big, sad eyes, they had grown into 
youngsters with a tanned complexion, glowing cheeks, their eyes 
bright and eager. The usual question of visitors in these first weeks, 
" Is not the forest school a school for sickh'- children ? " seemed en- 
tirely justified by the appearance of the children. 

The improvement of the children's physical condition was sub- 
jected to a severe test during the rainy, damp days of the rather 
cold October of 1904. Although they stayed out of doors nearly all 
of the time, not one of them caught cold. 

Educational results. — Data are lacking on which to base definite 
comparisons of school progress with the previous record of these 
children, but certain observations of progress and improvement while 
the children were in the open-air school, and also of their standing 
in the regular classes when they were returned to the city schools, 
have been made. 

The difficulties to be overcome by teachers and pupils, due to 
previous irregular attendance of the children on account of ill health 
and to the fact that the}'^ were gathered from different schools and 
different conditions, have already been discussed. Increased eager- 
ness and alertness on the part of the children became apparent within 
a short time after admission to the school. Lack of interest was 
complained of on the part of only 3 out of the 120 pupils. Most of 
the children were proficient in their studies; nearly all of them 
lived up to their abilities. Lack of advancement was observed in 
only 5 out of 120 pupils, but in some of these cases a special reason, 
attributable to the child's physical condition or his home environ- 
ment, explained the difficulty. In 13 cases the advancement of the 
children in all or many of the subjects studied was considerably 



118 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



improved. One child that the teachers were about to transfer to a 
subnormal center made such marked progress that even after having 
been returned to the regular school he made normal advancement. 

The Charlottenburg Board of Education, however, desired to get 
information on the educational results in addition to the reports of 
the forest-school teachers. Some weeks after the children's return to 
the regular public schools the board asked the superintendents of 
three of these schools to report on the scholarship of the returned 
forest-school children. The statements were strongly in favor of the 
forest school. The greater eagerness and alertness of the children 
were particularly emphasized. Moreover, in the beginning of Jan- 




FiG. 62. — Exterior of open-air school building, Elberfeld, Germany. 

uary, 1905, official reports on the scholarship of the forest-school 
children were required. According to these reports, the scholarship 
in 108 cases had remained the same or had improved. In only 12 
cases had it deteriorated. 

In estimating the value of these results, it must be remembered 
that, owing to the limited capacity of the forest school, only the most 
needy, delicate, and sickly children could be admitted — children sub- 
jected to bad home conditions and some of them even to temporary 
illnesses. Moreover, a considerable time had elapsed between the 
time the children left the forest school and the time this scholarship 
test was made, and adverse conditions had again had their influence 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IX GERMANY, 



119 



on them. Their physical condition, therefore, was not the same as it 
had been on discharge from the forest school. 

The results of this first j'ear, therefore, show that the pedagog- 
ical purpose of the forest school — not to retard the child mentally — 
is attainable and had been accomplished with most of the children. 

The intimacy in which the children lived with their teachers and 
with each other proved to be good training and helped to improve 
deportment. Mutual helpfulness developed, and the feeling of friend- 
ship and comradeship was strengthened. The discipline and direc- 
tions necessitated bv their dailv life in the forest school made the 




Fig. ua. 



-The delightliul setting of the Elberfeld Open-air School is illustrated by this 
view of the children at rest. 



children very helpful and created an esprit de corps which aided 
much in their management. 

Public opinion. — Public opinion, influenced by the understanding 
attitude of the daily press and the pedagogical and medical periodi- 
cals, was from the beginning strongly in favor of the forest school. 
At first the parents of the children, however, met the new institution 
with a hearty distrust and could not easily be persuaded to have their 
children transferred to the forest school. But this distrust changed 
rapidly into the keenest interest. They came to visit the school from 
which their children returned full of life and spirits and refreshed 
after the days that had been sultry and oppressive in the city. 



120 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Visitors became so nuincrous that they had to be limited to certain 
hours of the day. Sunday afternoons are now set apart for visiting- 
parents Avho, from distrustful opponents, have grown into the most 
ardent supporters of the forest school and are often very effective 
cooperators in the work. Besides the parents, the forest school had 
many other visitors. Representatives of municipal and State govern- 
ments, organizations and individuals who were interested in social 
betterment, came not only from all parts of Germany and other 
European countries, but even from beyond the ocean. The forest- 
school children were greatly rejoiced Avhen, on June 10, 1907, the 
German Empress spent a few hours wdth them. 

The volunteer work that was heartily undertaken by some of the 
Charlottenburg public-school teachers has already been mentioned. 
Valuable help has been given by the street car company. Not only 
did they put special cars at the disposal of the school at certain 
hours, but issued tickets at a considerably reduced rate (75 cents a 
month) and carried 10 of the poorest children free of charge. The 
municipal government purchased tickets for 30 other children whose 
parents were too poor to pay. 

Budget. — The forest school is entirely supported bj^ the Charlotten- 
burg municipal government. The expense for the establishment of 
the school in 1901 amounted to $5,259.37. Since then it has been 
necessary to complete and enlarge the plant and to renovate parts 
of it. The considerable amounts required have alwaj^s been voted by 
the Charlottenburg municipal government. 

The teachers in charge of the forest school get their board free of 
charge, and as thej^ are required to give the Avliole clay and Sundaj'^s 
to the school a monthly addition is also made to their salary. 

The food has cost from 12 to 13 cents per day per child. Parents 
who are financially able are expected to pay, and a special record 
form is used in securing data on this point. At first difficulties were 
met with, but the more the parents grew conscious of the benefits 
their children derived from the forest school, the readier they were 
to contribute their share. In 1901, $250 was collected from parents. 

Forest schools have been established since 1904 in the following 
cities : 



OPEiS^-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 121 

Cities- in irhich forest scliools have b<;cii estahliahed since I'.tO'i} 



Name of city . 



Name of 
school. 



Date of open- 
ing. 



Supported by- 



Length of 
term. 



Attend- 
ance. 



Period for 
which 
children 
are ad- 
mitted. 



I. PRUSSIA. 

Aachen 

(Rheinprov - 
inz). 
Cassel 

Elberfeld 

(Rheinprov- - 

inz). 



r i e s h e i m- 
Main. 



Hu.snmfSchles- 

w i g-H o 1 - 

stein). 
Mtienchen- 

Gladbach. 

(Uheinpro V- 

inx). 
Saarlirnecken 

(Rheinprov - 

inz). 
Z i egenhal s 

(Schlesien). 



II. UAVARI.V. 



Nuremberg 



in. SAXONY. 



Chemnitz 

(Sachsen). 



IV. IIAMnilRO. 



Waldschule 
Aachen. 

Kinderer- 
holungs- 
s t aett e 
Cassel. 

Waldschule 
" D II r g- 
holz." 



Waldschule 
Griesheim 



.lulv 17,1907.. 



Under con- 
strue t i o n 
summer of 
1914. 



Stadtgemeinde 
Aachen. 

Walderholungs- 
staetten, E. V. 
Cassel. 

Rekonvaleszen - 
ten-Verein Kl- 
berfeld and 
Elberfelder Ver- 
ein fuer ( lemein- 
wohl, R. V. 

Gemeinde Gries- 
heim. 



April to 
October. 

All sum- 
mer. 



April to 
Novem- 
ber. 



120 during 
summer. 



170... 



As long as 
physician 
thinks nec- 
essary. 



Waldschule 
Muenchen- 
Gladbach. 

Waldschule 
Saarlirue- 
cken. 

AValdschule 
Ziegenhals. 



Kinderwal- 
d e r h o 1 - 
ungshei m 
Rueckers- 
dorf. 



Kinderwal - 
derhol- 
ungshei m 
Chemnitz. 



ILxmburg ' Waldschule 

! Bergedorf. 



V. LUEBECK. 



Luebeck . 



VI. ALSACE- 
LORRAINE. 



Muehlhausen 

(Elsass). 



Waldschule 
Luelieck - 
Wesloe. 



Waldschule 
Mu e h 1 - 

hausen. 



May 2S, 1906. 



July 1,1914. 



July 7, 1910.. 



Under con- 
struct i on 
summer of 
1914. 



May 7, 1906... 



Stadtgemeinde 
Muenchen-Glad- 
bach. 

Stadtg e m e i n d e 
Saarbruecken. 

Graeflich von Bal- 
lestrem 'sche 
Gueter-Direk- 
tion, R u d a 
(Oberschlesien). 



Verein zur Be- 
kaempfung der 
Tuberknl o s e , 
V,. V. Nurem- 

1 )erg. 



Verein zur Be- 
kaempfung der 
Schvvindsuch t 
in Chemnitz 
und Umgebung, 
E. V. 



-Ml sum- 
mer. 



.do. 
.do. 



All the 
year 
around. 



.\11 the 
year 
around. 



3r>0 to 400 
duri n g 
summer. 



240 to 2S0 
duri n g 
summer. 



About 200 



3 to 4 weeks. 



As long as 
physician 
thinks nec- 
essary. 



As long as 
physician 
thinks nec- 
essary. 



Stadtge m e i n d e 
Muehlhausen. 



April to 
October. 



April to 
October. 



As long as 
physician 
thinks nec- 
essary. 



As long as 
physician 
thinks nec- 
essary. 



I This list is doubtless not complete, since the beginning of the war made it impossible to secure fnrthT 
information. 



122 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Extension of open-air schools in Germany. — The experiences and 
successes of the Charlottenburg Forest School were strong incentives 
to other cities to make similar provisions. 

In 1906, the secretary of the Royal Prussian Department of Educa- 
tion issued the following statement : 

In the Zentralblatt fiir die gesamte Unterrichtsverwaltung in Preussen, 
September to October, 1905, a detailed account of tbe Charlottenburg Forest 
School is given. 

In regard to the dangers that exist in large cities and in almost all indus- 
trial places for the normal physical development of children and adolescents, 
all institutions are to be sincerely welcomed that will help to secure a higher 
degree of health and strength to the young people. The more satisfactory 
these measures are, the more they deserve the most careful attention and the 
most vigorous support. 

Among them the forest school, because of the peculiar connection of physical 
and educational purposes, commands keen interest. I therefore call the atten- 
tion of those branches of the Royal Government concerned to the article above 
mentioned, and in compliance with a special order of His Majesty the Emperor 
and King, I request its widest consideration. 

Further, I desire to lend whatever help is possible to all cities and country 
places that plan the establishment of similar institutions, and desire to be 
informed when any such institutions should be founded in your district. 

This served to give the greatest possible publicity to the Charlot- 
tenburg experiment, at least in Prussia. 

Many schools, particularly those at Muehlhausen, Muenchen- 
Gladbach, and Elberfeld, have closely followed the Charlottenburg 
plan. Fundamental dissimilarities that ajDpear are largely attribu- 
table to the fact that scarcely any of these schools — with the excep- 
tion, perhaps, of Muehlhausen, Muenchen-Gladbach, and Aachen — are 
as purely municipal institutions as the cr.e at Charlottenburg. Their 
establishment was due either to the initiative of some social-welfare 
organization, for instance, in Elberfeld, to the Eekonvaleszenten- 
Verein and the Verein fiir Gemeinwohl, or to the fact that a certain 
amount of money has been donated or bequeathed to the municipality 
and dedicated to this definite purpose. Responsibility in such cases 
is shared by the board of trustees of such foundations. The closest 
cooperation, however, of the municipal government is always re- 
quired because of its right to supervise the public schools. 

Under certain circumstances a forest school may be an entirely 
private institution. It may, for instance, be established by the man- 
agement of some big industrial enterprise in connection with other 
welfare features for the benefit of its laborers. One of these schools 
is the forest school in Ziegenhals, Upper Silesia, Avhich was estab- 
lished, owned, and managed by the Graeflich von Ballestrem'schen 
Gueter-Direktion, Ruda, Upper Silesia. As a rule the period for 
which the children are admitted is very short in these schools (in 
Ziegenhals three to four weeks). These schools, therefore, may 



OPEN-AIK SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



123 



hardly be considered as a part of the public-school system, but pro- 
A'ide a recovery place for the children where the danger of retarda- 
tion is eliminated. 

Nearly all of the forest schools have one great advantage over 
Charlottenburg in that they are locally connected with one or more 
special welfare institutions. 

The institutions that are above all others fitted to have a forest 
school attached to them are the so-called recovery places in the 
woods. The plan to establish these recovery places was formed in 
1899 by Dr. Wolf Becher and Dr. Kudolf Lennhoff after an investi- 
gation into the housins; conditions of tuberculous laborers in Berlin. 




Fig. 



64. — Type of reclining chair used for the rest period in the open-air school at 
Nuremberg, Germany. 



In some stages of tuberculosis the most important advice of the 
physician to his patient is to spend as much time as possible, not 
only out of doors, but in pure and invigorating air. No one knows 
how long such advice has been given and received without anybody 
being specially concerned as to the patients' possibility or oppor- 
tunity of obeying instructions. 

It is the purpose of the " Kecovery Places in the Woods " to fur- 
nish the laborers in the large cities with this opportunity, despite the 
long distances and other apparently overwhelming difficulties. The 
recovery places had to be equipped for a whole day's sojourn; they, 
therefore, had to afford a shelter when it rained, a resting place 



124 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Avhen the patients M-ere tired, and an opportunity to get nourishing 
food when they were hungry. In 1900 the first recovery place in the 
Jungfernheide, near Berlin, was established for men. Soon after 
one was started for women. A natural development led to the estab- 
lishment of recovery places especially for children as early as 1902. 
The first children were introduced into the recovery places by 
coming along with their fathers. After the establishment of 
recovery places for women, many more children were brought, be- 
cause their mothers could not come and leave their children at home 
alone and uncared for. Good results were shown in the children, but 
tlieir presence was a drawback to their mothers. The next step was, 




Ficj. 65. — Dormitory tor residential pupils, opeu-air school at Nuremberg, tiermauy. 

therefore, to create the same kind of provision for the care of chil- 
dren, apart from the quarters of the men and women. 

Now there are about 90 recovery places in the woods in Germany.. 
They are sometimes managed by the municipalit}^ but more often 
by some local organization for combating tuberculosis. 

The site of these recovery places is always exactly what the site 
of a forest school ought to be. When, therefore, the plan of estab- 
lishing a forest school was conceived in a community where recovery 
places in the woods existed, it seemed the only natural and economical 
thing to connect them. Undoubtedly the problem of equipment is 
much easier if, for instance, the housekeeping plant can be utilized 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



125 



to its full capacity ; the bathing facilities can be much more complete, 
and drainage and plumbing much more in accordance with the re- 
quirements of modern hygiene, if adequate machinery can be 
afforded. 

Early in the experience of these recovery places it became evident 
that both night and day care was needed by certain of the patients. 
Accordingly, some of the recovery places installed conveniences for 
overnight care along much the same lines as that followed in night 
camps in America. The original recovery places were primitive and 
suitable for use in summer only. In time some of them extended 
their work over the whole year, and this, of course, required the in- 




FiG. GO. — luterior of opeii-air school class room, Elberfeld, (icriiiauy. 

stallation of light and heat and general provision for the luirdships 
of winter weather. 

Nearly all the recovery places are now under medical supervision. 
A phj'^sician is duh'' appointed, who has his office on the grounds. 
His duties are to examine and advise the patients. In the early days 
of the chidren's recovery places it was difficult to get the consent 
of the parents to leave the children in the recovery places as long as 
the doctors thought necessary. The fathers and mothers feared 
retardation at school. To meet this objection the recovery places 
introduced the idea of educational work. In this they had the ex- 
ample alread}^ set in the forest schools. This feature spread rapidly 
through most of the recovery places in Germany. 



126 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

The fact that these recovery places were established with the sole 
purpose of improving the children's health keeps the emphasis en- 
tirely on the physical side. In most places the educational work 
does not pretend to take the place of school. Its main object is to 
keep the children from forgetting what they have already learned, 
and to keep alive and active the habit of study. For this purpose 
many children's recovery places, for example, that at Chemnitz, have 
introduced one hour's daily school time for all the children of school 
age who are not put on full rest by the physician. Some of the 
recovery places have kindergartners as teachers. Some, however, 
have developed the educational side to a degree that is very nearly 
equal to that at the forest school. 

The Eueckersdorf children's recovery place, owned and managed 
by the Nuremberg organization for fighting tuberculosis, is typical. 
It was established in 1910. It has stood strongly for the principle 
that the length of stay ought to depend entirely on the child's physi- 
cal condition, and that a long stay securing a lasting benefit is of far 
greater value in the fight against tuberculosis than merely temporary 
improvement. In this case, therefore, the educational problem has 
had attention from the beginning. In 1911 the recovery place was 
open all summer and educational work closely akin to the Forest 
School plan was provided for the children. Each child is expected 
to get one hour and a half of schooling a day, besides one hour de- 
voted to physical culture and gymnastics. 

The children's recovery places — though usually not managed by 
the municipal governments — found as a rule their readiest public 
support when they planned to develop a forest school. The teachers 
and the equipment of the schoolroom are mainly furnished by the 
municipal government, through its board of education. The regu- 
lar supervision of the educational work to which the whole public 
school system is subject is also vested in the school board. 

Some forest schools in Germany admit children under about the 
same conditions as described for Charlottenburg. Muehlhauseh 
makes the probability or even the certainty with which perma- 
nent benefit can be predicted for the child a determining point in 
his selection. Despite this fact the children first admitted to the 
Muehlhausen Forest School seem to have been in worse condition 
than the Charlottenburg forest school children. Muehlhausen had, 
in consequence, more serious initial troubles with the adaptation of 
children to the unaccustomed conditions than Charlottenburg. Per- 
haps another circumstance may have proved disadvantageous in this 
regard. The Muehlhausen Forest School is situated on a hill, and 
the children, after a ride on the surface lines, have a steep hill to 
climb to reach the school. Fortunately the municipality could keep 
over night the children that suffered most from the exertion. A 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 127 

Home for Convalescent Children occupied the second floor of the old 
manor, the first floor, basement, and grounds of which furnish quar- 
ters for the forest school. 

The children's recovery places are alwaj^s in closest touch with all 
the other organizations and institutions whose object is to combat 
tuberculosis, particularly with the so-called information and aid sta- 
tions for tuberculous people. These organizations are comparable to 
tuberculosis dispensaries common in the United States. These sta- 
tions select the children for the recovery-places in the woods and 
therefore for the forest schools connected with them. Without disre- 
garding anemia and malnutrition, they consider first the exposure of 
the child to tuberculosis and his predisposition to possible infection. 
Cases of open tuberculosis are excluded in all these schools. 




Fig. 67. — An open-air recitation at Mimchen-Gladbach, Germany. 

Applications for admission always greatly exceed the capacity of 
the recovery places. These children are selected who are most ex- 
posed to the danger of tuberculosis infection and belong to the most 
needy families. The Rueckersdorf recovery place, for instance, for- 
mulates the conditions as follows : 

1. Anemic, undernourished debilitated children. 

2. Children exposed to tuberculous infection, or predisposed to tuberculosis. 

3. Children with incipient or suspected tuberculosis. 

4. Scrofulous children (suffering from tubercular glands). 

5. Tuberculous children (closed cases). 

6. Children with chronic bronchitis. 

The school life of the children is guided everywhere by the same 
principles. Some forest schools, especially those in the recovery 



128 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



places, make a stronger point than Charlottenburg o,f having all the 
recitations out-of-doors. Only in case of absolute necessity do their 
children retire into a more or less improvised classroom. After each 
recitation some of the recover}^ places have an intermission of the 
same length, instead of the 5 or 10 minutes' recess as in Charlotten- 
burg. 

The medical treatment is much the same as at Charlottenburg. 
Everywhere emphasis is laid upon strictly hygienic measures. The 
feeding also closely follows the Charlottenburg plan. In Muenchen- 
Gladbach the dinner is more elaborate than in the other forest 
schools, but the children are supposed to get their breakfast at home. 
The Muehlhausen school started with five meals a day, but after some 
time decided to omit the 4 o'clock milk or cocoa and to make the 




Fig. 68. — Opeu-air shack used for rest hour at Miinfhcn-Cilaclbach. (Jerniany. 

supper a little more ample. The forest schools at Muehlhausen, El- 
berfeld, and Nuremberg decided from the beginning to provide ac- 
commodations for both day and night care for some of the most 
delicate children. 

In 1913 Nuremberg made tlie attempt to keep the Eueckersdorf re- 
covery place open during the winter. Definite data as to the results 
are not available, but the report for 191B, covering the first two 
months of the winter school, states that, judging by the short experi- 
ence, the experiment seemed very promising. 

The connection of the forest schools with the children's recovery 
places aiforded the first opportunity to German children of having a 
forest school all the year round and to be taken care of in the most 
effective way. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



129 



The success of the forest schools is entirely satisfactory everywhere. 
All reports state that the percentage of forest-school children who 
are not able to keep up w ith their grade when returned to the regular 
school or who fail to make one grade in a year is no larger than that 
among the regular school children. The greater alertness of the chil- 
dren after their return from the forest school is frequently noted. 

The improvement in the ph3^sical condition shows particularly in 
gains in weight. Elberfeld, for example, reports for the year 1912, 
after the forest school had been open for 195 days, an average gain 
of 3.4 pounds for 170 children whose attendance was between 21 and 
195 days. Sixty-six children are gi'ouped according to their attend- 
ance. 

Gain in iccifjfit of cJiildren at the Elberfeld forest school. 



Children attending. 


Period of attendance. 


Gain in 
weight. 


Average 
gain. 


5 


Days. 
195 


Pounds. 
31 
63 
111 


Pounds. 
6. 18 


15 


More than 100 


4 2 


46. 


21 to 100 


2.41 









The reports of Muehlhauseii show the average gains of the forest- 
school children for all the years since the school was opened : 

Gain in weight at the Muehlhauscn forest school, hy years. 



Year. 



Children 
attending. 



190S 100 

1907 200 

1908 ; 200 

1909 1 200 

1910 200 

1911 ; 200 

1912 ! 200 

1913 j 200 



Period of attendance. 



Average 
gain. 



May 7 to Oct. 31 . 
May 6 to Oct. 2(1. 
May 4 to Oct. 24. 
May 3 to Oct. 23. 
May 3 to Oct. 22. 
May 2 to Oct. 21. 
Mavl to Oct. 19. 
May 5 to Oct. 25. 



Pounds. 
4.6 
4.44 
4.26 
4.72 
3.98 
4.73 
5.45 
4.13 



Gain at Muehlhnnsen, 1912 report. 



Number of 
children. 

9 

44 

57 

43 

14 

12 


Gain in 
weight. 


Pounds. 
0to2. 
2 to 4. 
4 to 6. 
6 to 8. 
8 to 10. 
10 to 12. 
12 to 14. 
15. 


4 

1 



Judging from conditions governing admission, the physical status 
of children in the Rueckersdorf recovery place corresponds more 
nearly to that of the Chicago open-air school children than to that 

97855°— Bull. 23—17—9 



130 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



of any other German school. The Rueckersdorf results may there- 
fore be of special interest to those who wish to compare them with 
results obtained in American open-air schools. 

Gains in iceight in Rueckersdorf open-air school. 



Years. 


Children 
attending. 


Average 
attendance. 


Average 
gain in 
weight. 


1910 


65 
108 


74.9 
74. 08 
60 
69.84 


Pounds. 
5.50 


1911 


5.88 


1912 


131 
158 


6.57 


1913.. . 


6.91 







The following tables showing improvement in general physical 
condition are taken from the annual reports of the Nuremberg- 
Rueckersdorf recovery place for children : 

Physical condition at Nuremberg-Rueckersdorf recovery place. 



Principal diagnostic findings. 


Number 

of 
children. 


Improvement. 


Doubtful 


Excellent. 


Marljcd. 


Good. 


Moderate. 


cases. 


1910. 


29 
24 

8 
1 
3 


5 
5 
2 


6 
6 
3 

1 
2 

22 
11 


15 
11 
3 


2 
2 


1 


Incipient tuberculosis 










1 


Chronic bronchitis 


1 

14 

7 




1 




17 
16 
3 


4 
3 




1911. 


65 

57 

37 

3 

2 

6 








Scrofulosis (thyroid glands) 




Tuberculosis 




2 
6 

28 
7 
2 
1 
1 
2 


1 




2 

34 
6 

1 


1 

23 
7 
1 
1 








8 
2 




1912. 


108 

97 
23 
4 
2 
2 
6 


4 


Incipient tuberculosis 


1 






Tuberculosis .... ... 








1 
1 








other defects... 


2 




1 










134 





Most of the schools record weight, height, chest expansion, and the 
Tallquist test. The results as indicated by these different points 
are equally satisfactory. 

All the forest schools try to keep track of their pupils after they 
leave. The children discharged from the forest schools connected 
with the children's recovery-places remain under the supervision of 
the information and aid stations for tuberculous people, and there- 
fore are under medical supervision indefinitely. As a rule children 
from the forest schools are reexamined within three months after 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GERMANY. 



131 



discharge from school. These reexaminations show that in most 
cases the improvement has lasted. 

Other differences in the management of individual forest schools 
may be traced to different underlying ideas. Those who lay the 
greatest stress upon the permanence of the good that is done will, 
like Charlottenburg, tend more and more to secure for the children 
a long and uninterrupted stay at the forest school ; while those who 
believe its benefits should be widely spread will tend to observe a 
shorter period and reach a larger number of children. Muenchen- 
Gladbach as a rule shifts her pupils every two months; Aachen every 
six weeks. Muenchen-Clladbach has a regular attendance of 90 to 
100 children. By her system, which, however, is elastic, it is possible 
to make the forest school accessible to 350 or -iOO children in the 
summer. 

There is also a divergence of attitude on the question of tuition. 
As a rule forest schools are free of charge. But the different munici- 
])alities may take a different attitude as to the extra care the children 
receive. Some forest schools, for instance, Nuremberg, advocate giv- 
ing the advantages of the forest school free of any extra charge. 
Others, like Charlottenburg, try to get at least the expenses for food 
defrayed by parents who can afford it. 

Other forest schools — for example, Muenchen-Gladbach — try to be 
as nearly self-supporting as possible. Parents with a yearly income 
of $500 are expected to pay per day 20 cents per child; those with 
an income of from $500 to $750, 25 cents; with incomes of $750 to 
$1,000, 30 cents per child; where the income is more than $1,000, 
35 cents per child. These rates, however, may be reduced for special 
reasons. Other children are paid for by welfare societies and the 
municipal government makes a grant of $1,250 a year for the schools. 

The following will give an indication of the cost of forest schools 
in Germany: Muehlhausen, $3,012.05; Muenchen-Gladbach, $5,000; 
Elberfeld (buildings, etc., $4,545.29, other $790.45), $5,335.74. 

The Muehlhausen report for the school year 1913-14 gives the fol- 
lowing interesting tables on the running expenses of the forest school 
since its foundation. 



Expenses of the Muehlausen forest school, 1906-1918. 



Years. 


Number 

of 
children. 


School 
days. 


Total 
running 
expenses. 


Expense 
for 
food. 


Total 

expenses 

per child 

a day. 


Expense 

for food 

per child 

a day. 


190G 


100 
200 
200 
200 
200 
200. 
200 
200 


150 
147 
147 
147 
146 
146 
145 
147 


$3,877 
5,690 
6,027 
5,562 
5,915 
5,803 
6,363 
6,612 


$2,695 
4,121 
3,892 
3,832 
3,858 
3,723 
3,925 
4,000 


CenU. 
26 
19 
21 
19 
21 
20 
22 
23 


CmU. 
18 


1907 




1908 


14 


1909 


13 


1910 




1911 


13 
14 


1912 


1913 









132 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

The expense for food per child a day is about the same every- 
where. Liiebeck reports 15 cents; Elberfeld, 17 to 18 cents. Forest 
schools are not inexpensive institutions. They not only require addi- 
tional facilities of plant and equipment, but also an added amoimt 
of personal attention by people who are competent as teachers, physi- 
cians, and nurses. The schools should be regarded as an investment, 
the interest of which comes back to the community with the increased 
health and efficiency of its citizens. By this standard Germany has 
put her stamp of approval on the forest school. In her painstaking 
work with the children Germany learned that compulsory school 
attendance meant danger to the health of a considerable percentage 
of her school children. Sh^ set about to devise a plan that would 
not only avert this danger, but which would, on the other hand, build 
up resistance and overcome those weaknesses by the application of 
the best therapeutic measures known to her scientific men. The plan 
she devised robs the child of neither health nor education, one at 
the expense of the other, but for her pupils, whose needs have here- 
tofore not been discovered, understood, nor reached, she evolved a 
plan which gives them both education and health. 



Chapter VIII. 

OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



ENGLAND. 



The publication of the first detailed report of the Charlottenburo; 
Forest School early in 1906 immediatel}^ aroused the attention of 
European educators. Among those who spent some time at Charlot- 
tenburg was Dr. Frederick Rose, a medical expert employed by the 
London County Council. He returned from his first visit an enthu- 
siastic convert to the cause of open-air education, and later made a 
second visit only to find his first impression verified and strengthened. 

As a result of his report to the London County Council, that 
body, in 1907, opened an experimental open-air school in Bostall 
AYood, near London. One hundred anemic and physically debili- 
tated children received care during the summer months, following 
practically the same daily program as the children at the Charlot- 
tenburg school, except that only three meals a day were given instead 
of five. 

The success of the experiment led in 1908 to the extension of this 
work in three open-air schools, located at Birley House, Montpelier 
House, and Shrewsbury House, three private estates near London. 
The schools were in session frofti June 1 to October 31. School hours 
were from 9 a. m. to 7 p. m. each week day, except on Saturday, when 
school closed at 1 p. m. The children could remain Saturday after- 
noon if they wished for games, under the supervision of a teacher. 
One afternoon a week was set aside for visitors, and no one was 
admitted on other days except by special permission. About 80 
children were on the roll of each school, and the average attendance 
for each was approximately 72. 

Each school w-as fortunate in having for the exclusive use of the 
children large and well-wooded grounds, from 1 to 6 acres in extent. 
Kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms, and offices were provided in the 
old mansion on each estate, but Doecker portable buildings, com- 
pletely open on one side, were purchased for classrooms, and here or 
imder the trees the children spent most of their time. 

A two-hour rest pei-iod followed the noon meal. Each child had 
a steamer chair and an army blanket assigned to him at the school. 
Clogs and blanket coats were the only other articles of clothing 
regularly supplied. 

The specimen time-table and dietary appended are typical of the 
arrangements still followed by most of the English day open-air 

schools. 

133 



134 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



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OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND. 
Specimen dietar]i table. 



135 



Breakfast.. 



Dinner 



Tea. 



Porridge and milk, sugar. 
Staff ' — Same, plus tea, bread 
and butter, bacon. 



Roast beef, peas, potatoes, 
sago pudding. 

Staff— Same, plus soup. 



Milk and water, bread and 
jam, bread and dripping. 

Staff— Tea, bread and butter, 
bread and jam, toast. 



THURSDAY. 

Breakfast.. . Porridge and milk, sugar. 

Staff — Same, plus tea, bread 
and butter, haddock. 



Dinner i Boiled beef, dumplings, dried 

vegetables, potatoes, boiled 
rice and sirup. 
Staff— Same, plus soup. 



Porridge and milk, sugar. 
Staff- Same, plus tea, bread 
and butter, eggs, bacon. 



WEDNESDAT. 

Porridge and milk, sugar. 
Staff- Same, plus tea, bread 
and butter, bacon. 



Boiled leg of mutton, haricots, Boiled cod, parseley sauce, 
potatoes, stewed prunes, potatoes, boiled currant 
custard. I pudding. 

Staff— Same, plus soup. Staff- Same, plus soup. 



Weak tea, bread and butter, ! Milk and water, currant and 



cake. 

Staff— Tea, bread and butter, 
cake, toast. 



Porridge and milk, sugar. 
Staff— Same, plus tea, bread 
and butter, oloaters. 



Tea. 



Chocolate, currant and white 

bread and butter. 
Staff— Tea, bread and butter, 

toast. 



Lentil soup, bread, boiled jam 

roly-poly. 
Staff— Same, plus steak .bread 

and butter, pudding. 



white bread and butter. 
Staff- Tea,bread and butter, 
toast. 



SATURDAY. 



Porridge and milk, sugar. 
Staff— Same, phis tea, bread 
and butter, eggs. 



Stew of mutton, barley, 
onions, potatoes, tapioca 
pudding. 

Staff- Same, plus soup. 



Milk and water, white bread 

and butter, cake. 
Staff"— Tea, bread and butter, 

cake, toast. 



No tea. 



- Instructors and officers. 

The course of study was correlated with the natural surroundings 
of each school. The general features of the curriculum at the 
Birley House and Shrewsbury House (Shooter's Hill) schools are 
described in the chapter on Educational Organization and Curricula 
(seep. 205). 

At the Birley House School, which is also conducted by the Lon- 
don County Council on a well -wooded estate near the city, the head- 
master has organized the curriculum on a colonization scheme. His 
methods are thus described in a recent bulletin of the United States 
Bureau of Education : ^ 

At the Birley House School Mr, Green, the headmaster, has organized the 
curriculum on a colonization scheme. Various minerals — coal, iron ore, copper 
ore, lead ore, and gold quartz — are buried in different parts of. the garden, 
and the children go out to prospect for these. The finders become captains of 
industry. To work the mines the captains of industry engage laborers at the 
labor exchange, which is managed by one of the pupils, or receive applications 
for work. Boring is then proceeded with, shafts are sunk, winding apparatus 
is constructed, and the mineral is brought to the surface. Here arises the need 
of coal, and a system of transportation in the form of a miniature railway 
is organized, furnaces are set up, factories are planned, the possible markets 
for the products are considered, and the importance of a merchant service is 
recognized. So much for the industrial side of the colonization plan. Side 



1 Kandel, I. L. 
57, pp. 107-108. 



Elementary Education in England. U. S. Bu. of Educ, 1913, Bui. No. 



136 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



by side with this, the agricultural plans are developed. A portion of tlie 
garden is cleared and a miniature farm of six fields is prepared, and the dif- 
ferent modes of fencing are applied to these fields. The ground is plowed 
and crops are sown in rotation, including wheat, potatoes, turnips, barley, 
oats, clover, and cabbages. A thatched log hut is built and furnished to serve 
as a homestead for the farmers, and the necessary outhouses — ^barn, stable, 
wagon shed, pigsty, hen roost, and dog kennnel — are built around it. The 
nature-study scheme is correlated throughout with the work done on the farm 
and with the gardening operations. The general manual work is as varied 
as the activities which stimulate it. A rabbit warren, an aviary, insect cases, 
garden frames, cases for the weather instruments, etc., constitute the work in 
wood. Other media, involving puddling clay, making of concrete, and the mix- 
ing of cement, are employed in constructing a pond and making the garden 
and agricultural rollers on the basis of a drainpipe. Sufficient scope is afforded 




FxG. GO. — Thackley Open-air School, Bradford, England. 



in this scheme for the work in practical arithmetic in the measurement of 
lengths and distances, in estimating costs and quantities, in finding heights by 
means of simple measuring instruments, in making the graphical records of 
rainfall, barometer, thermometer, sunshine, etc., and in working out the other' 
calculations required in connection with the garden and manual work. Pro- 
vision is made in the time-table for the other subjects of the curriculum, i. e., 
geography, history, reading, composition, drawing, and singing. 

The per capita cost of these schools for the summer of 1908, includ- 
ing salaries of teacher, nurse, attendants, rent, repairs, taxes, equip- 
ment, books and teaching apparatus, fuel, light, and water, exclusive 
of food, was about $120, as compared with a per capita cost of $30 
in the ordinary school. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND. 



137 



The education committee pays street-car fare when necessary. A 
fee of 50 cents a week is now charged each child who is able to pay, 
but the fee may be remitted entirely in cases of poverty. 

The physical results are judged largely by gains in weight and 
height, by increase in chest development, and by the hemoglobin test. 
A medical examination takes place every two weeks, and great care 
is taken to tabulate the results carefully. The reports of English 
schools are particularly valuable in this regard. Several of these 
statements on results are included in the chapter on Kesults (pp. 
229-232). 




Fig. 70. — View of one of the porches, Thackley Open-air School, Bradford, England. 

The elementary education act of 1899, under the section on defec- 
tive and epileptic children, made special provision for the education 
of physically defective (crippled, tuberculous, anemic, etc.) and 
mentally defective children. The law states that the school medical 
officer must examine and select the children and that not more than 
20 children be allowed to a teacher ; that the curriculum must include 
manual training and that the hours of instruction be short. Pro- 
vided these requirements are met and the school is properly certified 
by the education authorities, a grant of about $20 a child may be 
made from the taxes and will be paid by the board of education to 
the authorities of the school. There may also be a grant for medical 



138 



OPEK-AIR SCHOOLS. 



treatment and care under part 1 of the medical grant regulation of 
the board of education. This amounts ordinarily to about $40 a 
child. There are now 34 schools certified by the board of education 
for the reception of tuberculous and delicate children. 

The tuberculosis legislation of 1911 provided a grant of $7,500,000 
for making grants in aid of sanitaria and other institutions of the 
United Kingdom for the treatment of tuberculosis — $500,000 of 
this sum was set aside for grants to sanitarium schools for children 
suffering from pulmonary or surgical tuberculosis. The tuber- 
culosis legislation also provided for the compulsory notification of 
all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and the school medical officers 



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Fig. 71. — Opeu-air leoitatiou, Barnsley, England. 

have used these reports in tracing sources of infection and examining 
the children in houses from which tuberculosis has been reported. 

Thanks to this generous provision for support and to the excellent 
results attained by the early schools, the development of the open-air 
school movement in England has been rapid. In the English year- 
book of open-air schools and children's sanitaria for 1915 the folloAv- 
ing are listed : 

Day schools for children suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. 

Barnsley (West Riding, Yorks) Queen's Road Council School for Tu- 
berculous Children. 
Kettering (Northamptonshire) Council School for Tuberculosis Children. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND. 139 

Day ,schu()h for children suffering from pnhnoiiaiij tiibcrculoi^is. — Continued. 

Norwich (Norfolk) Clare House Couucil School for Tu- 
berculous children. 

Paddington (London) Kensal House Council School for Tu- 
berculous Children, Harrow lload. 

Reading (Berkshire) Whitley Council School for Tubercu- 
lous Children. 

York (East Riding, Yorks) Castlegate Council School for Tuber- 
culous Children. 




Fig. 72. — Bermerside, a residential open-air school supported by the city of Halifax. 

Rcsidoitial sanitarium schools for children suffering from pulmonary 

tuhcrculosis. 

Harpenden (Hertfordshire) National Children's Home Sanitarium 

School. 

Holt (Norfolk) Sanitarium School. 

Peppard Common (Oxfordshire) Kindercot Sanitariiam School. 

Nayland (Suffolk, West) East Anglian Sanitarium School. 

Residential sanitarium, schools for children suffering from surgical tuberculosis. 

Alton (Hampshire) Lord Mayor Treloar Cripples' Hos- 
pital School. 

Birmingham (Warwickshire) Woodlands Sanitarium School. 

Eastcote (Middlesex) St. A'incent's R. C. Home for Physi- 
cally Defective Children. 

East Clandon (Surrey) Alexandra Hospital School. 

Heswall (Cheshire) Royal Liverpool Country Hospital 

School. 



140 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Day open-air schools for delicate children. 

Birmingham (Warwielvsliire) UffL-ulme Opeu-Air Council Scliool. 

Bradford (West Riding, Yorkshire) Thackley Open-Air Council School. 

Bristol (Gloucestershire) Open-Air School. 

Darlington (Durham) Open-Air Council School. 

Halifax (AVest Riding, Yorkshire) Bermerside Day Open-Air Council 

School. 

Kettering (Northamptonshire) Open-Air Council School. 

l.ewislmm (London) Birley House Open-Air Council School, 

Forest Hill. 
IJncoln (liincolnshire. parts of Lindsey) --South Park Open-Air Council School. 

Norwich (Norfolk) Colman Road Open-Air Council School. 

Sheffield (West Riding, Yorkshire) Whiteley Wood Open-Air Council 

School. 
Woolwich (London) Shooter's Hill Open-Air Council School. 

Plumstead. 




Fig. 73. — Open-air school for normal fhildreu at Carnarvon, Wales. 

Residential schools of recovery for delicate children. 

Claeton-on-Sea (Essex) The Ogilvie School of Recovery. 

Halifax (West Riding, Y'^orksliire) Bermerside Residential Open-Air 

Council School. 

Manchester (Lancashire) Swinton House (Physically Defective) 

Council School. 

Roby, near Liverpool (Lancashire) Bowring House Council School. 

West Kirby (Cheshii-e) Convalescent Home for Physically De- 
fective Children. 

In addition to schools for sick or delicate children, many private 
open-air schools are being established for well children, and archi- 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND. 



141 



tects are experimenting "vvitli types of school-house construction 
which will make it possible to convert all schoolrooms into open-air 
classrooms. In general the open-air classroom conforms to one of 
three types: 

(rt) Increased open-window space. 

(h) Removal of one side wall — veranda form. 

(c) A loggia arrangement. 

These ends may be met either by special classrooms attached to 
ordinary schools or specially constructed elementary schools on open- 
air lines. Examples may be found at Denton Holme, Carlisle. Bur- 
ton Latimer, Bradford, Sheffield, and other places. 

The country school. — Liverpool, Manchester, London, and other 
large cities are building country schools to which debilitated town 




i'u;. 74. — All class rooms in the Caruarvou School oppii into this marching corridor. 

children may be sent for short periods during the summer months. 
There is practically no attempt at formal instruction, but the lessons 
which are provided are based on nature study, manual training, and 
domestic duties. (See p. 212 for description of curriculum at Tlob}'- 
House.) » 

Playground classes. — The report of the chief medical officer of the 
London Board of Education for 1913 records 88 playground classes 
in the city and classifies them as follows : 

(a) A playground class established us a center for delicate children from 
neighboring schools, the class being formed of suitable children from these 
schools and working in the open air all summer. Four classes. 



142 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



(b) A class of delicate cliildreu of various educational standards selected 
from one school. One class. 

(c) A class of children in the same standard of one school only, the same 
class being taken out each day of the week. Fifty-three classes. 

(d) A playground class in which the pupils are drawn from a particular 
school only, but various classes are taken out in the open in rotation. Thirty 
classes. 

London started this system in 1909. It is now extended to Bir- 
mingham, Blackburn, Bournemouth, Halifax, Sheffield, and else- 
where. Some of the classes recite in playgrounds adjacent to public- 
school buildings, others in public parks and open spaces situated in 
easy walking distances of public-school buildings. 




Fig. 75. — The open-air pavilion used as a schooh'oom at Bermerside. 

The curriculum in most of these classes is planned to include extra 
physical exercises, manual work, and school gardening. 

SCOTLAND. 

Scotland has no special schools for tuberculous children, but many 
of her schools for physically defective children are conducted on 
modified open-air principles. Aberdeen, Dundee, Goran, and Pais- 
ley are among the smaller cities where this work is carried on. 

Glasgow has established 18 centers for the education of physically 
defective children, but they are for the most part located in ordi- 
nary school buildings, without much possibility of introducing open- 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND. 



143 



air methods. The school board has recently built a large special 
school with open-air classrooms, which provides for physically and 
mentally defective children in entirely separate sections of the same 
building. Two other special schools of the same type are soon to 
be constructed. Children who need more day care are sent to the 
Biggart Memorial Home, Prestwick, Ayrshire. 

Edinburgh, after experimenting successfully with the open-air edu- 
cation of physically and mentally defective children at the Willow- 
brae school, has joined with the Children's Holiday Fund Association 
in conducting an open-air school at the Children's Village in the 
high hill country at Humbie, about 20 miles from Edinburgh. There 




Fig. 76. — A recitation under the fir trees at Murthley, Perthshire, Scotland. 

are five little cottages and a schoolhouse in the " village," which is 
used as a summer outing camp by the Holiday Fund Association. 
During the school year the board of education pays the holiday fund 
a certain sum per pupil for board and lodging and the parents of the 
children are charged according to their circiunstances. Twenty 
pupils are sent out at a time, and the average stay during 1913 was 
nine and a half weeks. The school medical officers select the children 
from the delicate and physically debilitated pupils of the public 
schools. They react quickly to the healthy conditions in which they 
are placed, and last year the average increase in weight was found 
to be a half pound per week for each pupil. A quickening of intelli- 
gence and increased interest in work and surroundings are frequently 
noted by the teachers and by the children's parents. The schoolhouse 



144 OPEN-AIE SCHOOLS. 

is SO constructed that one entire side can be thrown open, and practi- 
cally all the classes are conducted thus in the open air. 

The study of tuberculosis among school children in Scotland is 
receiving particular attention from several medical inspectors, and 
the general opinion of medical men seems to be decidedly in favor 
of extending open-air schools in Scotland in much the same way as 
in England. 

IRELAND. 

To the Woman's National Health Association, under the leader- 
ship of the Countess of Aberdeen, belongs the credit for attempting 
to introduce open-air schools into Ireland. During the Ui Bresail 
Exhibition, which was held by the association in Dublin in 1911, an 
open-air school was conducted as an object lesson, and since that 
time teachers in a few cities have regularly taken classes out of doors 
for recitation in favorable weather. There is as yet no medical 
inspection of schools in Ireland and very little on which to build a 
well-organized open-air School system; so, although the commission- 
ers of national education are thoroughly in sympathy with the idea, 
no classes have as yet been organized. The National Health Associa- 
tion is laying the foundations for the work by establishing school 
playgrounds and summer outing camps and by aiding in prevento- 
rium and sanitorium construction. 



Chapter IX. 
OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



ITALY. 



Open-air school work in Italy ^^ as begun by the Anti-Tuberculosis 
Association of Padua in December, 1902. The head of the associa- 
tion at that time was Senator Achille de Giovanni, who was also a 
professor at the University of Padua. Through his efforts a site 
was secured at Barbarano, a suburb of Padua. The first colony 
accommodated 10 children and a teacher. Later the city of Padua 
gave a subsidy to assist in tlie establishment of two more pavilions, 
which increased the number of children cared for to 30. No attempt 
was made to make the teaching conform to that of the public-school 
system, and the experiment was called an open-air colony rather than 
an open-air school. 

In 1905 a somewhat larger colony was opened on the outskirts of 
Padua, under the direction of Dr. Alesandro llandi, chief of the 
medical service of the city. The Red Cross Society furnished tents, 
and other benevolent associations secured the equipment and paid the 
current expenses. The children were chosen from the pupils of the 
primary schools by a special committee. They ranged in age from 
5 to 12 years, and 54 were received during the two months in which 
the colony was open in the first year. During September they were 
kept out in the open air eight hours a day and were given two meals 
at school ; in October the school day was shortened to six hours, and 
only one meal was provided by the school authorities. 

These colonies have now developed into open-air playgrounds. In 
1913 there was an average attendance of 200 children. The play- 
grounds are used for keeping children under observation until it 
can be determined whether they need additional care, and in build- 
ing up those whose physical condition needs only the day open-air 
life. Children who need further attention are sent by the medical 
committee to mountain colonies or colonies by the sea or are placed 
out in suitable country families until their physical condition im- 
proves, when they are once more accepted in the open-air playground 
and remain until the medical committee considers them ready for 
discharge. 

07855°— Bull. 23—17 10 145 



146 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

The Gymnastic Association of Padua has cooperated with the Anti- 
Tuberculosis Association in the management of these playgrounds. 
The president of the association has ruled that all the girls shall at- 
tend the lessons " without corsets, wearing broad-toed shoes, and with- 
out earrings." The classes were not at first intended for instruction, 
but merely for physical recuperation ; it was not until 1907 that the 
city of Padua appointed a public-school teacher to take charge of the 
work. In this year the school medical inspectors began to separate 
from the other children in the public schools those who were physi- 
cally less developed or whose health was in such condition as to re- 
quire particular attention. Many of them were found to be children 
of families who were known to the Anti-Tuberculosis Association. 

In 1908 four special classes, called the " classes for sickly children," 
were opened by the municipality. They were, from the beginning, 
allowed to have shorter hours of school, and the requirements of the 
program were somewhat reduced. "VVlien the weather permitted, they 
were sent to the open-air playgrounds for recitation. At other times 
rooms in the ordinary public-school building were used. 

In 1911-12, 702 children, nearly 30 per cent of the first and second 
grade children in the city, were registered in these classes. In 1913, 
15 classes for sickly children were conducted by the board of educa- 
tion, and it was considered that the actual needs of the situation in 
Padua were thus met. 

In 1909 the city built a large and beautiful open-air structure for 
the use of the special classes. The style of building is that commonly 
seen in the European schools, a long shacklike structure, and as usual 
in Italy, open on all four sides, with canvas curtains which can be 
lowered if necessary. Most of the Italian schools are in session only 
from spring to fall, and the climate makes it possible to conduct them 
satisfactorily without more permanent buildings. The board of edu- 
cation is thoroughly in sympathy with the movement, and purposes 
to construct additional open-air school buildings until all who need 
such care are accommodated. The children remain in the open air 
from 8 o'clock in the morning until 6 at night, having one meal at 11 
and another at 4. They spend the first hour of school day in rest, re- 
laxation, and breathing exercises. About 600 children were thus bene- 
fited in 1912. 

No statistical reports are available as to the results of the work, 
but the opinion of physicians and teachers is unanimous as to the 
remarkable improvement which the children show. 

Traveling open-air schools. — Milan, Rome, Genoa, and Florence 
are also carrying on similar work. Rome has attained some fame 
because of the traveling open-air schools, or schools where the pupils 
carry a folding camp chair and books over their shoulders and walk 
from place to place under the direction of their teacher, holding 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN ITALY. 147 

informal recitations wherever their fancy leads them to stop. There 
are certain objections to this method : First, that it is not practical 
for small or sickly children, since it is too fatiguing to carry along 
all the articles needed, especially when the roads are in bad condi- 
tion; second, that they have insufficient protection in case of storm. 
It may further arouse complaint on the part of landowners if the 
children happen to trespass on private property. 

The Florence open-air school. — The school in Florence is located 
in a large apple orchard, and a lemon conservatory with large win- 
dows is used as a schoolroom. It was opened on April 13, 1912, and 
has continued Avithout interruption even during summer vacations. 
A class of about 30 children Avas chosen from the elementary schools 
by the physician of the board of health and the director of the clinic 
for children. Lessons were alternated with gymnastic exercises, 
games, short walks, and gardening. School hours were from 9 to 4 
in winter and in summer from 9 to 6. Food was served three times 
a day. The physician in charge records a gain in Aveight superior 
in nearly every case to the normal increase in weight for the age of 
the child. Chest development also has been greater than normal. 
The expenses of the school are equally divided between the com- 
munity and the anti-tuberculosis society. The teacher receives extra 
pay as compensation for the longer hours on duty, and during the 
period when school lasts until 6 p. m. he is relieA^ed in the afternoon 
hours by a teacher paid by the municipality. The children receive 
Avarm milk and bread when they arrive at school, a Avarm lunch at 
noon, and a second lunch at 4. The breakfast and first lunch are 
furnished by the association and the second by the municipality. 
The school equipment is provided by the municipality, but the asso- 
ciation gives each child a woolen raincoat and a winter cap and a 
large straw hat for the summer. 

The purposes of the school have been to give assistance to sickly 
children or children predisposed to tuberculosis, and to make the 
institution an effective means of teaching prophylactics and the 
beginning of a rational reform in the hygiene of the elementary 
school. 

Prof. Alberto Graziani made an extensiAe report to the Fourth 
International Congress of Physical Education, in which he summed 
up admirably the attitude of educators in Italy on the open-air 
school moA'ement and the conclusions Avhich they had reached. He 
believes that the congestion of cities, the poverty of the Avorking 
classes, the lack of suitable amusements which Avould develop spirit 
and body alike, and the increasingly difficult struggle for existence 
compel a readjustment in the lives of many thousands of children if 
they are to be given a chance for healthy, normal development. 
" Growth of children in the open air," he calls the " last Avord in 



148 • OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

modern educational methods," and points out that the open-air school 
originated in the necessity of bringing up children in a healthy- 
environment and in the fact that this period of the development of 
children coincides with the period of their attendance at school. 
Weight, height, chest expansion, and condition of blood are the 
physical tests which he would have applied to the children in the 
open-air schools. 

Wherever the natural conditions of the place permit, he thinks it 
is best to choose a hilly location for the open-air school, with woods 
and abundant water. There must be good drainage, and, if the site 
is not naturally wooded, many trees should be set out, preferably fir 
trees or resinous bushes. The size of the grounds should be propor- 
tioned to the number of pupils, but space should Ibe left for the con- 
sstruction of sleeping sheds, general offices, garden, orchard, and pla}'^- 
ground. The schoolrooms should be formed by large pavilions, 
about 10 by 15 meters, with a cement floor, and open on each side 
and equipped with strong curtains or with folding doors. The roads 
and grounds ordinarily used by the pupils should be covered with a 
thick layer of sand or gravel, and the whole area should be fenced in. 

School hours should be long enough to keep the pupils the greater 
part of the day. Three and a half hours of intellectual work is 
enough. Teachers should be chosen from those who volunteer to do 
the work, and those whose own condition demands open-air life 
should be given first consideration. 

Meals should be given at regular hours, one immediately after 
arrival, the second at 12.30, and the third half an hour before dis- 
missal. If only two meals are served, the first should be given 
at 11.30 and the second at 5. The two meals should represent two- 
thirds of the total nourishment and should contain a great portion of 
albumen. Meals should be followed by rest in the open air for not 
less than an hour and a half. After not less than three hours from 
the first meal the children may take a bath. Physical exercises are 
advisable, if properly supervised. Jumping, running, respiratory 
exercises, and modified singing are especially good. The children 
should wear clothing that permits full liberty of movement and 
leaves their bodies as improtected as possible, so that air and light 
can act directly on their skin. Neck, arms, and legs must always be 
unprotected, and the pupils must wear short stockings and sandals. 

Prof. Graziani sums up his conclusions as follows : 

1. We must have faith in the advantages that may be derived from the open- 
air school, for f)ur contentions are corroborated by suflicient experience. 

2. Tlie aim of tlie open-air school is to make possible the ijnnvth of the sick 
child in the open air. 

3. All tlic large cities where congestion is great should have open-uir 
schools. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN FRANCE. 140 

4. The open-air sch(X)I is tlie necessary supiilement to the special classes. 

5. The open-air scliools sliould be completed by holiday playgrounds. 

G. The open-air school should be a vast, shady space in which pavilions or 
])orches may be erected to be used as schoolrooms. 

7. The open-air schools will be preferably located outside the city ov in its 
immediate vicinity. The children will walk to the school, or if the distance 
is excessive, means of transportation should be provided. It is not necessnrj-, 
although preferable, that they be erected on the hills or in woods. 

8. The open-air school ought to be a nuuiicipal institution. 

9. The open-air school shall function only during the day. 

10. The children of the open-air schools will be chosen among those physically 
needy, or among those whose parents have not the opportunity to take care of 
them properly. 

11. The hours of the open-air school will be regulated according to local 
conditions, and the time devoted to instruction will be shorter than in ordi- 
nary schools. 

12. The program to be followed in the open-air schools will be very simple 
and will be of a practical and solid character. 

13. The physical education in the open-air schools should consist of exercises 
in running and respiratory gymnastics. A shower bath should betaken as often 
as possible. 

14. In the open-air school proper food should be abundantly supplied, and 
the clothing should correspond to the requirements of the school. 

15. The teachers of the open-air school should be chosen among those who 
spontaneously apply for such work, and preference given to those who ofCer par- 
ticular qualifications. 

16. The open-air school is to be preferred to the many other institutions whose 
object is prophylaxis through open-air life, because it is more economical, more 
practical, and the benefit may be extended to a larger number of individuals. 
In any case it may be considered as a useful supplement to the other institu- 
tions. 

17. The open-air school should bo constantly supervised by school physicians. 

FRANCE. 

Preventive work among the children of tuberculous parents had 
already taken form in two definite directions before the da}^ of the 
open-air school in France. Grancher had put into operation his 
splendid plan of "" preserving the seed corn of the Nation " by send- 
ing delicate children from the homes of the tuberculous poor into 
selected families of healthy peasant stock where they could get nour- 
ishing food and outdoor life through the critical years of childhood. 
His own statement of the purpose and methods of the work as stated 
in a report published in 1915 deserves reproduction : 

When tuberculosis enters a small dwelling and attacks father or mother, 
the infection of the children is almost inevitable, and it has seemed to me that 
the best way to fight against tuberculosis was to snatch away its prey. 

In this tuberculous family, the work of preservation takes the children who 
are still in good health, from 3 to 10 years, and places them in the country in 
the families of peasants equally healthy, where our pupils spend all their 
school life until they are 13 ; even longer, for we are sure that many remain in 
the country and found peasant families. 



150 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

The pupils are put in cliarge of good pliysicians of the neghborhood, who se- 
l(^ct the homes of the peasants and care for our children without charge. 

Men and women teachers vie in their interest in our pupils. 

Each child costs the oi'ganization, all expenses included, from 1 franc (20 
cents) to 1 franc 20 centimes a day, according to where he is placed. 

This selection of the still unspoiled seed corn of the human race realizes 
the formula which Pasteur applied to silk growing. 

An ideally simple and scientific formula. It is for the child the best which 
can be opposed to the devastating scourge of tuberculosis ; for, from the medical 
side, it gives a complete and radical solution. It suppresses, in fact, all the 
(auses of tuberculosis; the remote causes, as the poverty and wretchedness of 
the large cities which prepare the soil, and the immediate cause, family infec- 
tion. 

From the social side, the child removed from promiscuousness of a dwelling 
infected with tuberculosis, and placed during a long period of his life in a 
good house, with plenty of fresh air and an abundance of food, becomes a 
new being, physically and morally. He reaches adolescence full of vigor, and 
may then choose between life in the country or return to the city. 

According to our experience of ihe last four years, the country will be most 
often the choice. 

Finally, saving these children, almost all condemned to become tuberculous, 
will destroy for the future so many centers of contagion and will little by little 
lessen the extent of tuberculosis. 

All these advantages have not escaped the notice of those who are familiar 
with the work, and powerful friendships among statesmen, philanthropists, and 
physicians have helped to put it in the front rank in the antituberculosis 
campaign. ^ 

Vacation colonies. — As a result of the second activity, the vacation 
colony idea, originated by Pastor Bion, of Zurich, in 1870, and pro- 
moted by many private philanthropic societies and by certain mu- 
nicipalities, 81,358 French children, in 1911, spent from three to six 
weeks at vacation colonies. 

The scheme of operation which the city of Havre has developed at 
the municipal colonies of Grosfys and Montgeon may be taken as 
typical of others. Created by the city council on May 30, 1906, the 
management of the colonies is vested in a commission of 22 persons, 
who serve two years. Twelve are chosen from members of the city 
council, and they may add to their number 10 other persons " known 
to be interested in vacation colonies." The head of the department 
of public instruction is ex officio chairman of the association. The 
commission exercises full control over the selection of children for 
the colonies, the method of placing the pupils, the organization and 
supervision of the colonies, and the raising of funds for their sup- 
port, if the city appropriation is not sufficient. Every year they must 
make a general report, which includes the financial statement to the 
city council. 

The colony of Grosfys utilizes a country iestate near Havre, with 
a great country house large enough to accommodate nearly 200 

1 From Prevention dp TEnfance contrp la Tuberculose, Paris, 1912, pp. 1-2. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN FRANCE, 151 

children at a time. The colony of Montgeon occupies specially con- 
structed barracks in the forest of Montgeon close to the city of Havre 
and owned by the city. 

The present plan is to use Montgeon for the less needy children 
and Grosfys for those who are more debilitated. A plan has just 
been undertaken, however, which provides for some 400 of the most 
needy and unfortunate children a stay in both colonies, which ex- 
tends their vacation over the whole summer. In addition, many 
children are sent to Montgeon for the day only, leaving Havre by 
street car or on foot at 7.30 in the morning and returning in the 
evening. They are given a good dinner of soup, meat, vegetables, 
and desert at noon, but receive breakfast and supper at home. The 
children at Grosfys observe the following daily program : 

A.M. 

7.00 Rising hour; the children uncover the bed and open the windows and 
proceed to clean their shoes and make their toilets. 

7.4.') Breakfast ; the children are required to remain at least 2."> minutes at 
the table. 

9.00 A walk through the woods. 

10.4.5 Return. 

11.00 Make the beds. 

11.30 Luncheon ; the children remain 40 minutes at the table ; rest in the court. 
P.M. 

2.00 Luncheon in the open air. 

4.20 Walk. 

6.00 Return. 

6.30 Dinner ; the children remain at the table 40 minutes. 

7.45 Hour of retiring. 

Gymnastic exercises, different games, reading, and letter writing 
occupy the spare moments. 

No visits can be paid the children by their families except by 
special permission, and great pains are taken to prevent too frequent 
guests. 

The improvement in weight, height, and chest measurement, for 
both boys and girls, is marked. 

The cost of food per day amounts to about 10 cents per pupil, and 
the total expense, including management and supervision, amounts 
to a little over 20 cents per pupil. 

In the report made by the commission to the city council at the 
end of the season of 1913, the committee recommends that the "atten- 
tion of the municipal administration and the university authorities 
should be called to the advantages which would result from the estab- 
lishment of an open-air school at Montgeon. The vice president of 
the commission, Dr. Profichet, has submitted to the commission a 
plan for receiving in an experimental way 100 sick children, 50 
boys and 50 girls, who might be profited by the fresh-air treatment 
during the school year, leaving at Easter time if necessary. The 



152 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

same recommendation Avas made for the colony of Grosfys, with the 
alternative suggestion that it might be used as a rest-recovery place 
for adults if not available for an open-air school. 

Open-air schools. — The first open-air school in France was founded 
in 1904, at Montigny-sur-Loing, at the entrance of the forest of 
Fontainebleau, by M. Durot, a teacher who was moved by the deli- 
cate health of most of his little pupils to try to get them out of the 
poorly ventilated schoolrooms and their insanitary homes in the 
slums of Paris. He began the work without any help whatever, but 
it soon enlisted the support of physicians and educators, and in a 
short time he was able to erect a suitable building. 

Lyon was the first city in France to have a municipal open-air 
school. In 1907 the Castle of Vernay, on the banks of the Saone, was 
thrown open to the work of caring for sicklj'^ children from poverty- 
stricken homes. Pupils are received in groups of 45 for periods 
averaging about three months. They follow the usual program of 
forest schools, and register the usual gains in health and mentality. 

Nimes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Dijon haA^e also excellent open- 
air schools. 

League for open-air education. — The League for Open- Air Edu- 
cation was founded at Paris in November, 1912, by M. G. Lemonier, 
assistant editor of a school journal called " Hygiene in and through 
the school" (L'Hygiene a et par I'Ecole). Among its early mem- 
bers were M. Marcoux, prominent in antituberculosis work, and Mme. 
Jeanne Girard, school inspector of infant classes in Paris. The 
objects of the league are : First, to promote school hygiene and physi- 
cal, intellectual, and moral education by conducting and popularizing 
open-air classes and school journeys. Second, to encourage, assist, 
and award prizes to all undertakings and experiences of this nature. 
Third, to promote, and if necessary, to found, playground classes, 
schools, and medicopedagogical establishments in the open air, 
whether through public agencies or private initiative. Fourth, to 
place members and pupils of the society free of charge in houses 
where the rules of hygiene are observed. 

The association is supported by a membership created according 
to the size of the yearly contribution and ranging from the class 
called "founders," Avho pay a minimum fee of 1,000 francs yearly, 
to an honorary membership who pay 5 francs. No charge whatever 
is made the children who enroll themselves as pupils. 

The annual income is to be spent in the folloAving Avay : First, prop- 
aganda for education in the open air, by conferences, placards, bul- 
letins, reviews, etc. Second, diplomas, prizes, and grants to persons 
and groups who shall have helped by their acts to develop theory into 
practice. Third, organization of school journeys, visits, walks, fam- 
ily excursions with studies and demonstrations in the open air, and 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND. 153 

playground classes. Fourth, the establishment and installation of 
open-air classes of open-air schools by the location or purchase of 
ground sites, or estates or by construction. Fifth, the organization 
of school restaurants to distribute strengthening food to the pupils 
of the association. Sixth, the organization of vacation colonies or 
rest recovery places. 

The first undertaking of the league Avas to start school journeys in 
the Paris schools. The second was to undertake a study of open-air 
schools of various types, the results of which are to be published. 
Various other similar undertakings are being started. 

Many organizations of like purpose are affiliating themselves with 
the league, and the plan is to call an " Open- Air Congress " as soon 
as the branches number 100. 

SWITZERLAND. 

The type of open-air school for which Switzerland is best known 
is that developed by Dr. Rollier, of Leysin, and Dr. Bernhard, of 
St. Moritz, in connection with the sun cure of surgical tuberculosis. 
Complete elementary education is noAv provided for the little pa- 
tients, who sit with arms and legs exposed to the healing rays of the 
sun, reflected from fields of snow. Photographs of boys clad only 
in loin cloths, sandals, and shade hat skiing or tobogganing down 
the Alpine slopes have made the spectacular side of the treatment 
widely known. The details, however, are carefully and slowly 
worked out, and the most minute precautions are observed in begin- 
ning the work. 

Admission to the sanitarium is followed by a period of rest in 
bed, during which time the doors and windows of the room are 
gradually opened until the patient is accustomed to prolonged con- 
tact with the high mountain air. Then he is wheeled out on the 
balcony for gradually lengthened periods of time. Every day tem- 
perature, pulse, and respiration are carefully recorded; and tests of 
blood and urine are frequently made, so that the individual reactions 
can be noted. When it is certain that the patient is really acclimated, 
he is dressed in some white material, given snow spectacles and a 
white hat or a white umbrella, and is taken to the solarium, or " sun 
parlor," to begin the real treatment. Exposure to the direct rays 
of the sun is always begun with the feet, Avhich are uncovered only 
for five minutes at a time for three or four times the first day 
with an hour between each exposure. On the second day the leg 
is bared as high as the knee. It is usually a week or more before 
the head and neck are stripped of covering. As the treatment pro- 
ceeds, the skin turns a copper brown, Avhich gradually changes to a 
chocolate hue. This is called pigmentation, and is considered the 
best index of improvement. It is said to render the skin immune 



154 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

from bacterial infection. This continued exposure to the sun is 
particularly efficacious with tuberculous abscesses and sinuses, for it 
kills the germs and does not injure the living cells. In time children 
enjoy from four to six hours' exposure daily, and can go on with 
school work while taking the cure, 

Switzerland has five open-air schools of the ordinary type, situ- 
ated at Lausanne, Geneva, Neuchatel, Bischofzell, and Zurich. Zu- 
rich is the most recently established and may be taken as typical^ 
of the rest. The town has taken a lease of 30 years on a wooded 
tract of about an acre and a half on the outskirts of the city. The 
main building includes on the first floor a large diningroom, with 
kitchen and office, and on the second floor a classroom for use in 
bad weather, and rooms for the housekeeper and teacher. A large 
veranda opens direct from the diningroom upon the playground. 

The school physician and public-school teachers together choose 
the children who are debilitated and seem to need change and extra 
food. Tuberculous children are cared for in the sanitarium schools. 

Each morning the children gather at the tram station in town 
and proceed to the school in groups under the guidance of a teacher. 
At 8 a. m. comes the breakfast of bread and milk; at 10 o'clock bread 
and fruit ; dinner at 12 ; and supper at 6. After breakfast one-half 
of the children attend classes, while the other half play games, and 
after the morning luncheon the process is reversed. The class periods 
are 25 minutes each, with 5 minutes intermission between recitations, 
and there are four such periods during the morning. After dinner 
come two hours of complete rest, followed by two hours of play or 
excursions through the woods. 

The local board of education pays the salary of the teacher and the 
cost of the school materials. Children who are able pay 1 mark 
a day and any deficit is made good by the Children's Benevolent 
Society. The school was started by the Anti-Tuberculosis League, 
and the cost of the building was raised by private subscription and 
contributions by various benevolent societies. 

The famous holiday colonies or vacation homes which are now 
common in all the European countries were begun in Switzerland 
by Pastor Bion, of Zurich, in 1876. In 1909 more than 8,000 Swiss 
children spent three or more weeks on such trips at a total cost of 
44 francs per head. At first the whole expense was met by voluntary 
contributions, but of late the municipalities have realized the value 
of the work and are beginning to assume the cost. The plan is to send 
the children in groups of about 20 and in charge of a married teacher, 
sometimes to an inexpensive hotel in the country, but more often to 
houses built or rented for the express purpose. Some towns have 
provided holiday homes of their own. In addition to the colonies, 
some children from the lower grades are sent to peasants' homes in 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN DENMARK. 155 

the country to help in the lighter forms of farm work, in watching 
the goats or tending the cattle. 

The Guild of the Wandervogel consists of about 1,000 boys and 
girls over 14, who go off in separate groups under the guidance of 
a teacher on long tramps at least once during the year. Each group 
carries along a big aluminum pot which will boil a gallon or more of 
soup, and they camp at night wherever the fancy strikes them, often 
sleeping on hay or straw in barns or in the open. They now own 
three mountain huts, which are the centers from which the excursions 
start. 

School gardens and day school journeys have also been developed 
by certain cities as a means for giving the children proper training 
in the open air. 

DENMARK. 

The open-air school movement in Denmark has developed from 
the summer vacation colonies, and is still conducted largely in con- 
nection with them. 

Denmark has for years been in the habit of arranging exchange 
vacations between children living in the city and those living in the 
country. Groups of city children are taken to country homes and 
given a few weeks' experience of country life, while at the same time 
the country children are enjo3dng the sights of the city. The vaca- 
tion colonies, however, are planned especially for sickly and mal- 
nourished children, who need definite physical care. 

The open-air vacation colony for delicate children, organized by 
the Children's Aid Association of Copenhagen, illustrates the kind of 
work which is carried on. This association realizes that the cause of 
sickness and physical subnormality in school children is often largely 
due to the economic situation and condition of their homes. In 
many cases the homes are not able to restore the children to strength 
after a long sickness. In other cases children suffer from chronic 
undernourishment. Experience has shown that it is possible to re- 
store such children to full strength by a stay in the country under 
good conditions for a couple of months during the summer, or at least 
to give them such a good start that the chances are favorable for a 
complete recovery. 

The municipality of Charlottenburg has given to the Children's 
Aid Association free use of a farm owned by the city, at Lille Belle- 
gaard. The farm buildings have been considerably remodeled, and 
free transportation is provided for the children on the street rail- 
way. 

The colony was started in 1905. and since that time it has had 
under its charge 973 children. At present it is open from May 15 to 
September 16. During the summer 136 children are cared for, in 



156 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



two divisions, with periods of two months each. A medical certifi- 
cate is required from each applicant for admission, and these appli- 
cations are then passed on by the examining physicians of the board 
of directors. Preference is given the children who come from the 
poorest homes. 

The children meet at 8 o'clock in the morning and are sent home 
at 7 o'clock in the evening. They have four meals daily : Breakfast 
at 8, luncheon at 11, dinner at 3, and supper, including all the milk 
they can drink, before they are sent home. On birthdays the flag is 
raised, and the children have chocolate. The total number of days 
present in 1912 w^as 7,084, the total cost of the food was about $1,000, 
and the daily per capita expense for each child was about 13 cents. 

The management of the house, is in charge of a matron, assisted by 
the older children. The children are taught how to set the table 
properly, to wait on table, wash dishes, and perform other simple 
household tasks. 

Shoes are bought for all the children and blouses are provided for 
the boys and aprons for the girls, in order to save their own clothes as 
much as possible. They are also given toothbrushes, nailbrushes, 
soap, and towels. 

Except for the time necessary for meals the children spend the 
entire day in the open air. After dinner one hour's rest is given in 
reclining chairs. On rainy days the barn on the farm is used and the 
time is passed in play, dance, and song. 

It is easy to see from the changed appearance of the children, from 
their greater liveliness, perseverance, and excellent appetite that such 
a life has an excellent influence on them physically and mentally. 

They are w^eighed once a Aveek, and the reports show that they 
make good gains. 

Results of stay In. the colony, on iDciflltf. 





Total 
weight. 


Increase in weight. 


Number of children. 


Total. 


For each 
child. 


First division f52 days in the colony): 

35 bovs 


Pounds. 
1,984 
1,982 


Pounds. 
68 
98 


Pounds. 
2.0 


35 girls ... 


2.8 








3, 900 


166 


2.4 






Second division (54 days in the colony): 

34 bovs 


1,944 
1,792 


190 
177 


5.7 


32 girls 


.5.5 






66 children . 


3,730 


373 


5.6 







In order that the children may not, during their absence from 
school, fall too far behind their class, an open-air school is con- 
ducted at the colony, in which lessons are given in Danish, arithme- 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN SWEDEN. 157 

tic, nature study, and singing. The children are divided into six 
classes. Each class has two half-hour lessons daily in Danish and 
arithmetic. 

There is abundant opportunity for nature study in field, garden, 
and farm. The children have small gardens in a corner of the com- 
mon garden. They are supplied with plants, but the arrangement is 
left entirely in their hands. Most of them raise flowers, radishes, 
cabbages, and peas. Prizes are awarded to the best gardeners. In 
another corner of the garden the children are permitted to dig and 
work to suit their own pleasure. They build caves, castles, and forti- 
fications. A sand pile, seesaw, and swing are highly popular. The 
day passes so rapidly with games and study that there is hardly time 
enough for all that needs to be clone. 

In the evening, after supper, the children stand in line in the 3'ard 
while the flag is carried to the front; then, with drums and fifes 
playing, they are led to the street car for the homeward journey. 

Each of the divisions has three day excursions — one trip on the 
steamboat to Elsinore, one visit to the zoological garden with lunch- 
eon, and one trip to the Deer Forest. 

NORWAY. 

The city of Bergen maintains an open-air school at Mjolfjell, to 
which 30 delicate children from the city are sent for a month's rec- 
reation and instruction. The community has appropriated 1,000 
crowns ($268) for this experiment. 

SWEDEN. 

Sweden is said to lead the other nations of the Scandinavian group 
in respect to the provision of school gardens and vacation colonies. 
In many of the larger cities of Sweden it has been customary during 
the last few years to send school children who are in special need of 
building-up into vacation colonies during the summer. They were 
started in Stockholm in 1884; and 350 colonies, a total of 8,751 
children, had been sent from that city between 1885 and 1900, ex- 
clusive of some colonies provided by certain industrial companies 
for children belonging to their workmen. Between 25 and 30 children 
were sent in each group. They remained about two months, and 
the total daily cost per child amounted to about 15 cents. 

In 1907 Stockholm seriously considered the question of establish- 
ing a forest school. The municipality appointed a commission to 
make a general investigation into the teaching of sick and delicate 
children, and the decision was that it would be better to extend the 
work of the vacation colonies, rather than to proceed Avith the forest 
school at that time. 



158 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 
HOLLAND. 



Various cities in Holland have interested themselves in summer 
colonies for needy children and in the school- journey movement. 
Recent information on but one open-air school has been secured. 
This is maintained by a private organization and is now located in 
the sand dunes near The Hague. The work was begun in 1905 on 
a very small scale in a private house and garden which had been 
given^ rent free, for six weeks. The funds supplied were meager, 
and the 42 children who were admitted were compelled to bring their 
own forks, spoons, etc. The society supplied food and instruction. 



■'■*:. 






■ ^0^(,r^^^^ ^-■-^-- j^ A 




■■'■ ->«*-^i| 




mm A 



Fig. 77. — Open-air school near The Hague, HollaDd. 

In 1906 another house, with beautiful large gardens, was also giveUj 
rent free, to the society, and here the children stayed three or four 
months. As the work went on and increasing numbers of children 
applied for admission, the interest of the public grew until the city 
authorities became interested, and in 1913 gave the ground for the 
establishment of a new and larger school. The society bought several 
Doecker portable houses and prepared to accommodate 50 children. 
The pupils admitted are from 7 to 13 years of age. Children of 
tubercular parentage are given the preference. 

The medical officer of schools of The Hague conducts the physical 
examinations. Children with heart disease, chorea, or other nervous 
complaints are not admitted. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND. 159 

All the expenses are paid by private contributions. Each child 
is supposed to pay 6 cents a day. Any deficit must be met by the so- 
ciety. At the head of the establishment is a social worker who gives 
her services without pay and directs the teachers as well as the 
household staff. She is assisted by a nurse, a cook, a cleaning woman, 
and two teachers. The responsibility for the children's welfare, 
however, is made to rest as much as possible upon the parents. As 
soon as any difficulty arises as to the child's health, character, or 
scholarship, the parents are consulted. Parents' meetings are held 
frequently, and the medical officer discusses with them the necessity 
of fresh air, cleanliness, and plain but abundant food. The physician 
visits the school daily for a short time, and once a week conducts a 
thorough examination of one-sixth of the children, so that once in' 
six weeks every child gets a thorough physical examination. The 
amount of pliysical exercise which may be taken is designated by 
badges, which all children wear. A white badge is given the children 
who may run about and play and attend the lessons; a blue badge 
for those who may go to school, but are not allowed to run about or 
play vigorously ; a red badge for those who are on complete rest and 
may neither play nor take part in school work. Such games as foot- 
ball are allowed only to those with white badges, and skipping is for- 
bidden to all the children. 

Twice a week each child gets a shower bath or a tub bath, according 
to the doctor's instructions. Toothbrushes are provided, and the 
teeth are cleaned regularly each morning at the school. Twenty 
minutes of breathing gymnastics are prescribed for each child daily, 
except for those who are on complete rest. 

The children gather at 7.30 at the station in The Hague and are 
escorted to the school by the nurse. They arrive about 8 o'clock, and 
at 8.15 a breakfast is served, consisting of porridge, bread and but- 
ter, and milk. At 10,30 they are given a glass of milk and a piece 
of black bread, and at 12.15 a dinner of meat, potatoes, vegetables, 
and a dessert, sometimes a pudding and sometimes fruit. After din- 
ner they rest from 1 until 2.45, At 3 they are given milk and black 
bread again, and at 5.30 they have supper of bread and butter or 
bread and jam, with milk. They leave the school at 6 and reach 
the cit}'^ station at 6.30. 

The lessons are given as far as possible entirely in the open air. 
Each child has instruction for 2 hours in the morning and 45 
minutes in the afternoon. The needle work and gardening are done 
by both boys and girls, and add greatly to their enjoyment of the 
school. Otherwise the curriculum corresponds to that in use in the 
legular schools in The Hague. 

After leaving the open-air school and returning to their own 
school in toAvn, the children are kept under careful supervision, and 



160 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

at Christmas and Easter, following their stay at the open-air school, 
they are again examined by the medical officer, and if necessary 
enrolled for a second summer in the open air. 

Up to this time the school has been open only from the 1st of May 
to September. It is the plan of those interested to hold sessions 
the year round, as soon as finances will permit. 

The purposes of the school, as its promoters outline them, are : 

First, physical education. The restoration of health to weak children predis- 
posed to tuberculosis, by fresh air, rest, cleanliness, and good food. 

Second, intellectual education. By teaching during shorter hours and with 
smaller classes. 

Third, moral education. By cultivating the feeling of unselfishness, readiness, 
and responsibility, perseverence, and tolerance. 

Fourth, home education. By giving each child a small but responsible task in 
the household — as clearing away and washing up breakfast and dinner 
things, preparing vegetables for the table, waiting on table, etc. 

Fifth, love for nature. By giving the children small gardens, and by making 
them responsible for the care of the whole place, and by taking them on 
nature study walks in the woods, among the dunes, and along the seashore. 

HUNGARY. 

The first open-air school in Hungary was established at Szom- 
bathely, by the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Vas County, in' 
1908. This association was also the first to conduct a free dispensary 
for the treatment of the tuberculous poor, and the open-air school 
arose in part from its knowledge of the conditions in which children 
in the families under its treatment were growing up. 

The city of Szombathely placed at the disposal of the association 
a 10-acre tract of wooded land, on which the association built a small 
frame structure consisting only of kitchen, office, and a large open- 
sided room used for recitation and rest in bad weather. During the 
first summer the school session lasted only six weeks, but even in this 
time the gains in weight, in haemoglobin, and the improvement in 
appearance and mental vigor were so noticeable as to convince the 
city authorities of the value of the school. 

Accordingly, in 1909 the municipality constructed a larger build- 
ing with two dormitories, two verandas, kitchen, provision room, and 
living quarters for the matron. The building has a southeastern 
exposure and is located on the edge of the forest, where the growth 
is not too heavy to prevent free access of the sunlight to all the 
rooms. A good spring provides water for all purposes. There are 
accommodations for 50 children, 20 of whom remain all night. 

The head physician of the Anti-Tuberculosis Association and the 
chief dispensary physician select the children who are to be admit- 
ted. Only physically debilitated children are chosen, and those with 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN HUNGARY. 



161 



tuberculosis and anemia are given preference. They must come from 
needy families who are unable to get for them open-air treatment in 
any other way. No children suffering from advanced tuberculosis 
or having any contagious or organic diseases and no epileptics are 
admitted. 

The children meet at 6.30 in the morning at a school building in 
Szombathely and proceed to the forest school under the guidance 
of a teacher. The teacher is expected to look them over before start- 
ing, and if any one appears to be ill, to send him home. Even in 
case of bad weather the children are expected to meet at the city 
school noted above, as the teacher alone decides whether it is Avise to 




Flu. 7S. — Oyen-aii' school, Szombathely, Iluugary. 

attempt the trip to the forest school. If they do not go, they are 
taught in the school building in town. 

The daily program is similar to that in other forest schools. It 
includes a two-hour rest period and the daily cold-shower bath. Each 
pupil receives a blanket, underwear, a gymnastic suit, and shawl or 
collar made of a material called " loden," which are all numbered 
and may not be taken from the school. Even plates and drinking 
cups and other table utensils bear numbers and ai-e used by the same 
pupils each day. 

The matron has charge of the dormitories at night and is expected 
to instruct the resident pupils on days Avhen the teacher can not bring 
97855°— Bull. 23—17 — -11 



162 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS, 

the others out from town. Under her direction the older girls assist 
in setting the table, washing the dishes, and making the beds, taking 
turns in the assignments from week to week. The boys at the same 
time care for their own dormitories and work about the school 
grounds. During the months when the school is not in session the 
matron visits the parents of the children who have attended the 
school and prevails upon them to keep the children in attendance 
at the dispensary. She explains to them the value of home sanita- 
tion, including heating, lighting, and general hygiene. If small 
operations are necessary, she will secure the written consent of the 
parents for such an operation, and take the child to the hospital or 
dispensary to haA'e it done. She is expected to keep a record of this 
follow-up work and turn over the notes to the Anti-Tuberculosis 
Association. 

The teacher is supposed to be governed by the regulations issued 
by the city board of education. He appears at the meetings of the 
school board of the third district and reports on conditions at the 
forest school, thus keeping the supervisors informed of the progress 
of the work. He is instructed to pay special attention to individual 
instruction and to give plenty of manual work. He must see to it 
that the children do not overexert themselves mentally or physically, 
and try to direct their education in such a way as to render punish- 
ment unnecessary. He must make a w-ritten report regarding the 
progress made by the pupils to both the board of education and the 
Anti-Tuberculosis Association. 

Many educators and officials in Hungary have gone on record in 
favor of open-air schools. Dr. Sandor Gerlitz, in a lecture de- 
livered before the Hungarian association for child education at 
Budapest on January 11, 1913, said: 

It will not be surprising to note that the diseases caused by poor housing, 
especially tuberculosis, are lessening the population when we consider that 
58,000 childi-en are living in overcrowded rooms in Budapest, in some cases with 
6 others in the same room. More than 60,000 children have died of tuberculosis 
in Hungary within the last 10 years. The number of those who contracted 
the disease, no one is able to judge. The largest number of children naturally 
are the victims of immediate contagion on account of poor housing conditions 
and on account of contact with other consumptive relatives. * * * yov 
this reason and for the sake of affording protection against tuberculosis until 
such a time when we will be able to eliminate the healthy children from 
families affected by tuberculosis, education in the open air must have an 
enormous importance. * * * By following this method we will be able to 
save many children, who otherwise would become sure victims of the disease, 
for society and the nation, and will succeed in gradually wiping out this 
great peril. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN CANADA. 



163 



CANADA. 

In Canada the antituberculosis movement has been largely re- 
sponsible for establishing the earliest open-air schools. They have 
sprung up in connection with hospitals, dispensaries, and sanitaria, 
and in only one instance has the board of education been directly 
responsible for the work. 

This exception is at Toronto, where a true forest school has been 
conducted by the board of education in Victoria Park since 1912. 
The park is close to the town and easily accessible by street car, and 
the Toronto Street Railway Co. gives free transportation to the 
open-air school pupils. Wooden shacks were erected which give pro- 
lection to equipment over night and in which the children can recite, 










"^^::.'*:^^"£. 



Fig. 79. — The Forest School in Victoria Park, Toronto. Canada. 

and rest in rainy weather. The children arrive at 8.30 and leave at 
0.30. Upon arrival the}^ have a breakfast of cereal and bread and 
butter; at 10.30 a glass of milk, with bread and butter; at 12 a 
dinner of soup, meat and potatoes, a vegetable and a dessert ; and at 
5.30 a light supper of milk, bread and butter, jam or cookies is 
served. At 1 o'clock all join in a two-hour rest period, for which 
the board of education provided wooden cots with woven wire 
springs, a single blanket, and a small pillow. These articles are all 
numbered, and each child is responsible for the care of its own. 

Teacher and nurse camp in the park over night, w^hile the man 
principal and 10 or 12 of the mcst needy boys camp in army tents. 



164 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

The nurse teaches the children how to use a tooth brush, and each 
child is required to clean his teeth after each meal. She gives 
talks on cleanliness, care of the body, wholesome food, manners, 
deportment, and nature study, and also requires breathing exercises. 
Every day a certain number of the pupils take a tub bath. The 
teeth of all the children are put into good condition by the dental 
inspector, who removes stains and tartar, takes out jagged roots, 
and fills the decayed teeth. At the close of the school year 1913 
he reported as follows : 

I wish to draw your attention to the beneficial results of the regular and 
careful brushing of the teeth by the children under the nurse's guidance. At 
the close of the school the mouths of these pupils were, in practically every 
case, models of cleanliness. If the same regular care that was practiced in 
the forest school could be carried out in all our public schools it would revo- 
lutionize the mouth conditions among children. 

The testimony of the principal touching the changed dispositions 
in the children is significant. He says : 

The children came to the school dull, stupid, and unresponsive, with but little 
evidence of developing mentality. It was a great pleasure to watch the awak- 
ening and quickening intelligence ; to see apathy, dullness, and stupidity re- 
placed by intelligent alertness and activity ; to note the bright eye and quicken- 
ing movements ; to see the natural interest in everything that surrounds the 
child, which evidenced an awakening mind, but even this quickened mentality is 
not the only result, for the child has learned something in deportment — to 
lift his hat to a lady ; to smile back " thank you " for a service rendered ; to 
eat and drink decently at the tabl(i ; to appreciate the beauty of a view, wild 
flowers, the lure of the woods and majesty of the rolling sea ; to recognize his 
Creator in the things of nature. There has been an uplift to the whole moral 
being, the effect of which I believe will never entirely pass away. 

The school was in session from June to September in 1912, and 
from May to November in 1913. Seventy children were in attend- 
ance the first year. In the second year the number had increased to 
100, and the board of education voted to establish a second school 
for 125 children in another part of town. 

Open-air schools in connection with preventoria are conducted at 
the Mountain Sanatorium in Hamilton, Ontario, which is main- 
tained by the Hamilton Health Association, and accommodates 20 
children ; at the preventorium of the Imperial Order of the Daugh- 
ters of the Empire, in Toronto, with a capacity of (50 children ; and 
at the preventorium of the London Health Association, of Byron, 
Ontario. 

The Royal Edward Institute for the Study, Prevention, and Cure 
of Tuberculosis, at Montreal, has an open-air school for 35 children, 
on a second-story porch of the dispensary building. The pupils are 
all under the supervision of the dispensary at home as well as in 
school. School is in session the year round, and the curriculum 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS IN AUSTRALIA. 165 

follows that in use in the Montreal city schools. In the first year 
of its existence all but 4 of the children successfully passed the citj^ 
school examinations for their grade. The medical officer reports the 
following results for the year 1912-13 : 

Of the 37 cases treated in the open-air scliool during the year, there are 3 
pretubercular, 19 early cases, 11 advanced, and 4 far advanced. 
The residts may be- classified as follows : 

(1) Pretubercular patients — These attended only a short time, but were 
improved in health. 

(2) Nineteen early cases — 8 have been sent back to other schools as being 
cured; 5 dropped out before a conclusion had been reached; 6 are at present 
attending school. 

(3) Eleven advanced cases — 3 of these have been returned to other schools 
as cured; 1 case left showing improvement; 1 case left not improved; 2 
dropped out ; and 4 are at present at school. 

(4) Four far-advanced cases— 2 of these are still at school ; 1 left improved 
in health; and 1 has since died. 

The cases which have been discharged as cured and sent back to the other 
schools show no active disease whatever in the lungs, all signs of the disease 
having disai)peared. The future of these will depend a good deal on their 
home conditions, but given suitable hygienic surroundings and reasonable 
attention at home, I feel sure that they will be able to resist any further 
encroachments of the disease. 

The Sick Children's Hospital, at Toronto Island, in 1910 opened 
the Heather Club Pavilion for tuberculous children, where an open- 
air school with a capacity of 50 is carried on for six months of the 
year. In 1913 the National Sanitarium Association opened an ex- 
cellent hospital and open-air school for 80 tuberculous children at 
Weston, Ontario. 

With so favorable a start and with the public interest constantly 
stimulated by the public-health association and the antituberculosis 
leagues, open-air school work in Canada bids fair to establish itself 
as an integral feature of the public-school system of the Dominion. 

AUSTRALIA. 

The climate of Australia is particularly favorable for open-air 
work. The supervisors of grammar school work throughout the 
various districts of Australia report that the custom of taking classes 
out-of-doors for recitation is increasing, and strongly advocate its ex- 
tension, particularly in geography and arithmetic classes. School 
gardening and out-of-door nature study are features of the cur- 
riculum in all parts of the island. 

Open-air classrooms of the type shown in figure 80 have been 
erected near Sandringham, Victoria. They accommodate 50 children 
each and cost about $650. They are built of wood and roofed with 
iron. Three of the walls are boarded to a height of 3 feet, and above 
are filled with navy canvas blinds which are adjustable and can be 



166 



OPEi^-AIR SCHOOLS. 



opened to any height. The fourth side of the building is entirely 
inclosed. The buildings are constructed on sleeper plates and are 
thus easily portable. 

Many schools have play pavilions of similar construction which 
are used as open-air recitation rooms in fair weather. 

RUSSIA. 

Early in 1914 a letter was received from Moscow, Eussia, stating 
that it was the plan to reorganize the Prince Peter Georgievitch 




Fig. so. — Open-air pavilion at Sandringham, Australia. 

Oldenbourgsky Elementary School into a forest school, and asking 
for information on methods of management and programs of work. 
It has been impossible to secure any further information about the 
progress of the school. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Requests for information on open-air school work have come from 
Japan, China, India, and South America, but no definite under- 
takings have been reported. 



Chapter X. 

THE OPEN-AIR SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED 

STATES. 



When the news of the Charlottenburg school reached the cities of 
xVmei'ica, it found many people thoroughly alive to the fact that every 
community has its share of physically backward, anemic, and tuber- 
culous children, and that something should be done for them. 

New emphasis on the problem of the debilitated child has resulted 
from every new movement in the social service field in the last 
quarter of a century. One of the distinguishing features of this 
period has been its emphasis on human values and the constructive 
agencies which have been set to work to improve conditions. 

In aiding needy families, social workers have helped to secure 
hospital, medical, and other service for physically subnormal chil- 
dren. Visiting nurses have given them physical care and endeavored 
to adjust the home to their needs. Truant and probation officers have 
found such children a difficult part of their problem and have tried 
to keep them in school or to befriend them in trouble and get them 
out of court. 

The social settlement has become an important factor, and its 
Avorkers have taken such children into their clubs and classes and 
endeavored to supplement their fragmentary education. Country 
outings and the Boy Scout movement took such children for vaca- 
tions in order to give them fresh air and to improve their physical 
tone. Vocational guidance workers have undertaken to find them 
jobs and to make them secure in industrial pursuits. Social workers 
have found, too, that this type of child is father to the man without 
a job — who requires charitable assistance, almshouse care, hospital 
and sanitarium treatment, or possibly a correctional institution. 

Experiences gained in these and other fields had crystallized public 
opinion and created a sentiment that at once recognized the open-air 
school as a resource that was needed to help solve the problem of the 
debilitated child. Two lines of work deserve a special mention in 
this connection, for, more than any other influence, they created a 
background for the open-air school movement — health inspection in 
public schools and the antituberculosis crusade. 

1G7 



168 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Health inspection. — This work began in a systematic way in the 
city of Boston in 1894.^ Its original purpose was to control the 
spread of contagious diseases. It had been observed that compulsory 
school attendance often meant compulsory contagion, for outbreaks 
of such diseases were of frequent occurrence on the opening of school 
each autumn. In an effort to control this problem the city was di- 
vided into 50 districts, and a medical inspector chosen for each. The 
physician's duty was to detect and eliminate from the schools those 
who were suffering from communicable disease. This experiment 
proved so successful that it was copied by other cities. It was soon 
discovered, however, that mere elimination of contagious disease was 
only one phase of a very large problem. The child who called atten- 
tion to himself by such communicable disease was often found to be 
suffering from other defects which needed attention. Defective 
vision and hearing, inability to see the blackboard or hear the 
teacher's voice, nose and throat difficulties, and many other ailments 
were found by these medical inspectors, and many of the children 
were suffering to such an extent that their educational progress was 
seriously handicapped. 

In this Avay health inspection, now almost universal in the larger 
cities, came into existence as an educational measure. Everywhere 
this work detected large numbers of children who needed attention 
which the schools as ordinarily conducted were not prepared to give. 
The retarded and badly classified child as a problem in school man- 
agement and efficiency was discovered. It was found also that 
children of this type are among those who early fall out of school 
to become applicants for blind-alley jobs and to swell the ranks 
of those who make unsuccessful efforts at filling their places in 
society. 

The summaries of health-inspection work in the public schools 
have called attention of the public to the problem of the physical 
welfare of the whole school population as no other movement has 
ever done. 

Antituberculosis crusade. — Perhaps the influence that has most 
pointedly challenged attention to the needs of school children has 
been the antituberculosis crusade. Tuberculosis has for years been 
recognized as one of the most prominent causes of poverty. Con- 
sumption has appeared on death lists since the time of Hippocrates. 
Social workers in numerous agencies have been called upon to aid 
in the fight against this disease. Tuberculosis was regarded as 
hereditary, and the attitude toward it was one of helplessness and 
resignation until, in 1882, Dr. Robert Koch isolated the tubercle 

1 Elmlra, N. Y., had a school medical inspector as early as 1872. See annual report 
of the board of education, 1912-1.!, p. 12. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



169 



bacillus and proved that the disease is contracted onl}^ by taking 
the tuberculosis germs into the body. Then in 1885 Dr. Edward L. 
Trudeau established his cottage sanitarium in the Adirondack Moun- 
tains and by the application of therapeutic measures demonstrated 
that sufferers from incipient tuberculosis can be restored to their 
families and friends, to earning capacity and usefulness. 

These inspiring and revolutionary facts laid a new obligation upon 
society. The antituberculosis crusade was one of the results. A 
rapidly increasing number of societies — National, State, and munic- 
ipal — undertook to convey this news to the world through a cam- 
paign of education. These societies have carried on one of the most 




KiG. SI. — The lirst open-air school in the United States, I'rovidence, K. 1. 

definite and effective crusades that has ever been waged against any 
disease. It has had two objects in view : First, to acquaint the people 
with the new facts and to preach the gospel of fresh air, sunshine, 
rest, nourishing food, and wholesome living; and second, to estab- 
lish sanitaria, hospitals, and other relieving agencies, for there was 
not alone the problem of prevention, but also that of caring for those 
who were already victims to this disease. 

One of the most important agencies in this field is the tuberculosis 
clinic. This feature of the work places at the disposal of people, 
especially in the congested districts, a station properly equipped and 
manned with efficient doctors and nurses. To these stations anvone 



170 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS, 



who suspects he has tuberculosis may come for examination and treat- 
ment. It early became the practice in these rapidly multiplying 
clinics to examine all the children in homes where some adults were 
afflicted with tuberculosis. The result has been that more than 30 
per cent of all the children from such families examined in these 
clinics show signs of infection. While tuberculosis is no respecter 
of persons or economic conditions, it is nevertheless most prevalent 
in crowded districts and homes of the poor. The income is reduced 
because the breadwinner is stricken and the family is obliged to live 
in cramped quarters, not infrequently in two or three rooms. Under 
these conditions it is almost inevitable that infection should spread to 




Fig. 82. — An open-air school room in Allentown, Pa., which is used for both recitation 
and rest. The cots are folded and stacked in the rear of the room. For the rest 
period the chairs are moved forward, the cots then occupying the main floor space. 

the children, especially when their resistance is weakened through 
improper nourishment and care. While the doctrine of hereditary 
consumption has been exploded, improper housing, overcrowding, 
and low wages make the spread of the disease almost as inevitable 
as if it were hereditary. 

When it became known that tuberculosis is a community-born dis- 
ease, that it is fed to the children in their food, taken into their 
bodies from contact with the clothing of a sick patient, or from 
sputum carelessly scattered, a new obligation was laid upon these 
Avorkers, and they became aggressive in their efforts to create institu- 
tions and agencies for the proper treatment and care of children 
from homes where the disease prevailed. 



OPEX-AIR SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 171 

No definite census has ever been made of the number of chikh'on 
needing treatment in open-air schools. There have, however, been 
many local studies and estimates, and these place the number of 
children needing such care at from 2 to 10 per cent of the total school 
population. The following estimates are taken from studies made 
in many different places. 

The Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium of Chicago, which con- 
ducts 10 clinics scattered over the city, has on its books a list of 8.000 
children who are tuberculous. The commissioner of health of the 
city of Chicago in 1914 instructed the health inspection staff of the 
Chicago schools, consisting of 100 phj^sicians, to make a study of the 
children in need of open-air school treatment in their respective dis- 
tricts, and to report to him at the end of the school year. This inspec- 
tion, which was casual, but which was nevertheless a conscientious 
effort on the part of the doctors to discover the children, resulted 
in a list of 5,248, or approximately 2 per cent of the total school 
population. 

According to Dr. Leonard P. Ayres,^ for the year 1909-10 in the 
city of Boston the candidates for open-air schools were selected by 
room teachers and nurses and submitted to the medical inspectors 
for final decision. There were then approximately 90,000 children 
in the Boston schools. The children selected by the teachers were 
reexamined by the school physicians, and 4,489 children, or almost 
5 per cent of the entire membership, were found to need such care. 
Dr. Ayres also quotes from figures in Atlanta, Ga., where health in- 
spection showed that children suffering from malnutrition, anemia, 
and cardiac diseases were 5.18 per cent of the total number. From 
St. Paul in 1909, 2.7 per cent were suffering from cardiac disease 
and tuberculosis. At Appleton, Wis., 3 per cent were suffering from 
malnutrition. 

Dr. Ayres also quotes Dr. Henry R. Hopkins, of Buffalo, chairman 
of the committee on open-air schools of that city, who said in 1910 
that about 7 per cent of the children in the city needed the same sort 
of treatment. 

F. L. Hoffman estimates that 12,000 children of school age die an- 
nually from tuberculosis in the United States. 

Sidney and Beatrice Webb, in their book on Prevention of 
Destitution (Chap. lY, p. 66), have the following to say about 
medical inspection in England : 

When we get the child to school, knowledge of its condition becomes 
forced upon the community. The first results of systematic medical inspection 
are bringing home to our minds what every teacher knows, namely, that a large 
proportion of the children are not in a fit state to have the public money spent 
on teaching them, because they are suffering to such an extent from neglect as 

1 Open-Air Schools. 



172 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



to be unable to obtain full advantage of the instruction. What emerges from 
the cautious summaries of the chief medical officer of the Board of Education 
for England and AVales (Scotland and Ireland being at least as bad) is that 
out of all the 6,000,000 children in the elementary schools about 10 per cent 
suffer from serious defects in vision, from 3 to 5 per cent suffer from defective 
hearing, 1 to 3 per cent from suppurating ears, 8 per cent from adenoids or 
enlarged tonsils of sufficient degree to obstruct the nose or throat and to re- 
quire surgical treatment, 20 to 40 per cent suffer from extensive and injurious 
decay of the teeth, 40 per cent have unclean heads, about 1 per cent suffer from 
ringworm, 1 per cent are affected with tuberculosis of readily recognizable 
form, and one-half to 2 per cent are afflicted with heart disease. 




Fig. 8o. — Anemic 



If one takes the lowest estimate, 2 per cent, as the number of chil- 
dren in the total population whose physical condition is such that 
it interferes with the school work, it would mean 400,000 such chil- 
dren in the United States; if 10 per cent is correct, it would mean 
2,000,000. 

The original purpose of the open-air school was to secure outdoor 
life for the delicate child. Then came the plan of providing a shel- 
ter against inclement weather, to extend the period beyond the sum- 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 173 

mer months. Later came the idea of bringing the " outdoor " into 
the school by throwing the windows open wide. The open-air school 
aims to so conduct the school life of the physically subnormal child 
that it will tend to restore him to normal physical and mental vigor. 
Class of children generally admitted. — On account of the large 
number of physically debilitated children in the public schools the 
open-air school, especially in the United States, has endeavored to 
care, first, for the children who are anemic, undernourished, or whose 
general appearance indicates lack of resistance to disease; children 




Fig. 84. — Anemic boy. 

exposed to tuberculous infection by members of their own homes 
and who themselves show signs of infection by reaction to the tuber- 
culin test, by elevation of temperature, by enlarged glands, and other 
similar signs. 

Class of children generally excluded. — Those suffering from any 
communicable disease, and with severe diseases requiring absolute 
rest or hospital treatment; the mentally defective; children with 
open tuberculosis, i. e., forms of tuberculosis in which the tubercle 
bacilli are given off in the bodily excretions ; children suffering from 



174 OPEX-AIR SCHOOLS. 

tuberculosis of the bones, joints, and glands, which can not be pro- 
tected by proper dressings, are usually excluded. 

Characteristics of the open-air school. — Children should be ad- 
mitted to the open-air school or open-window room on the basis of 
a thorough physical examination. Moreover, the period in the school 
should be covered by a medical and nursing service which under- 
takes to correct physical defects and handicaps and to adjust the 
work of the school to individual capacities and needs. Efforts 
should be made to secure the most advantageous cooperation of the 
home with the school work. 

A smaller numher of pupils to each teacher. — The open-air school 
aims to give a small number of children to each teacher — from 20 to 
30 has been agreed upon as the proper size of class. This enables 
the teacher to understand her children better and to deal with them 
more nearly as their needs require. 

Fresh air and sunshine. — The open-air school gives the child the 
physical advantage and mental stimulus afforded by an adequate 
amount of fresh air and sunshine. The school is characterized by a 
greater freedom of movement and a more elastic program than is 
usual in the schoolroom. 

Food. — The anemic and undernourished condition of ph3^sically 
subnormal children is largely due to insufficient or improper food. 
The open-air school undertakes to supply this lack by furnishing 
food in sufficient quantity and variety and wholesomely cooked. A 
well-ordered meal is in itself a spiritualizing and refining influence 
as well as a body builder. No other hour of the school day has 
greater possibilities for the wise teacher than the one which con- 
cerns itself with the preparation and serving of food and the break- 
ing of bread. 

Rest. — Many of the children are suffering from conditions which 
call for an unusual amount of rest. Most children get too little 
sleep, and the irregular hours and lack of adequate sleep among 
tenement-house children are well known. Open-air schools gen- 
erall}^ have adopted the plan of giving all tlie children a period of 
an hour or more rest each day. In special cases the rest period ex- 
tends to a day or more, until temperature subsides and physical con- 
dition improves. This can be done at school. It is often impossible 
at home. 

Curricula. — The work in the open-air schools is generally charac- 
terized by greater freedom and elasticity. It should be more along 
motor and sensory lines — manual training, gardening, handwork of 
different kinds. The more intimate relationship of the teacher 
makes it possible to apply stimuli in more original and less tech- 
nical ways than she is able to do in regular indoor school work. 



OPEX-AIR SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



175 



Personal hygiene. — Personal hygiene is emphasized, dental needs 
are cared for, while frequently deca^'ed teeth and diseased mouths 
are corrected. Bathing, regular habits of cleanliness, regularity of 
meals, the acquiring of a taste for proper kinds of food, and right 
habits of eating are taught. The aim of the school is " to weave to- 
gether these different features in a process of education and hygienic 
living."' 

The open-air school came into existence to meet the needs of this 
army of distressed children. 

It is significant that nearly all the civilized countries came upon 
the problem in very much the same way, and almost simultaneously 




Fig. 85. — The health that comes from the out-of-doors. 

reached similar conclusions as to the necessity of action. The results 
obtained in the open-air schools have been such that the movement 
has had a rapid development in the United States. The original 
school was established in Providence, E. I., in 1908. By the end of 
that year there were 3 such schools; in 1909 there were 7; in 1910, 15. 
So far the number of schools has doubled each year until now there 
are more than 1,000 open-air classes in 168 cities of 32 different States. 
The presence of an open-air school in a community is always a stimu- 
lating influence for better general health. Directly or indirectly it 
helps to move the public to action, looking to better ventilation, not 



176 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

only in the schoolrooms generally, but in homes and public places 
as well. It is an object lesson of strong educational value. 

Nobody has ever questioned the adequacy of the total supply of 
fresh air. The open-air school stimulates the community to see that 
each one gets his share. There is fresh air outside every building, 
and the efficiency of every schoolroom in the land can be increased by 
the periodic opening of windows and letting some of it in. The 
friends of the open-air school moA^ement believe that in time the 
community will be satisfied with nothing short of right conditions of 
ventilation and hygiene for the whole 20,000,000 school children in 
the United States. 

These pupils spend 100,000,000 hours each school day in school- 
rooms. This means 11,415 years each school day, or 2,283,000 years 




Fig. 86. — An open-window room. 



in the 200-day school year. One of the greatest possibilities for loss 
of time and efficiency is in the listlessness, inattention, and the half- 
asphyxiation of school children, due to overheat and bad air in the 
, schoolrooms. 

The vitality of this movement is illustrated by the permanent 
buildings which are being constructed for open-air school purposes 
and by the attention which is being paid to health considerations on 
the part of school authorities. Still more signifioant is the fact that 
programs covering the whole field of physical welfare of school 
children are in process of evolution in different cities. 

In Boston the school committee is committed to the following 
policy : 



OPEN-AIE SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. 



177 



1. The extension of open-tiir schools until every child needing sucli treatment 
is provided for. 

2. A maximum temperature of 66° F. for all classrooms. 

3. Windows open on one side of each closed room at all times. 

4. Periodic flushing of each classroom with fresh air. 

5. Physical instructors in high schools relieved of duties one day each week 
to inspect and report heating and ventilating conditions in elementary schools. 





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Fig. 87. — Rest period, Elizabeth McCormick Open-air School No. 2. 



6. The use of parks for open-air classes. The park board and recreation 
commission have given the school committee permission to use buildings and 
parks suitable for open-air classes. 

Cleveland, New York City, Pittsburgh, Providence, and many other 
cities are deA^eloping similar programs. In California whole cities 
are reconstructing their school buildings on the open-air principle. 
The movement is thoroughly under way. Its goal is not only to 
see that each physically debilitated and backward child is cared for, 
but also that all the children of all the schools are given their full 
fresh-air and hygienic rights. 
97855°— Bull. 2.3—17 12 



Chapter XL 

PREVENTORIA, SANITARIA, HOSPITAL, AND VACATION 
OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



The key to the solution of the tuberculosis problem is " safety 
first " for the children in the homes of consumptives. 

The danger from tuberculosis is, and always has been, particularly 
great in the homes of the poor, especially in families living in two 
and three room tenement homes, with poor ventilation and lack of 
sufficient sunshine. A number of different agencies and institutions 
have been created to protect the children from the ever-present 
menace of such homes. 

Germany esijablished "recovery places in the Avoods." In France 
one of the most effective methods is that of placing children from 
tuberculous families in carefully selected countrj?^ homes. They are 
kept in such places for a period of years or until their health is 
established. In the United States, and in many other countries as 
well, day camps, preventoria, sanitaria, and hospital schools have 
been called into service. 

It is this class of agencies and their relation to the open-air school 
that will be discussed in this chapter. 

PREVENTORIA. 

A preventorium is an institution established for the purpose of 
taking children who are under grade physically, and who come from 
homes where there is tuberculosis, and caring for them in such a way 
as to prevent them from falling victims to this disease. At the 
present time there are at least four preventoria of this sort in the 
United States: The Farmingdale Preventorium, in New Jersey; 
Kidge Farm, Deerfield, 111. ; the Lakeside Preventorium, near Hoxie, 
R, I. ; and the Buckeye Road Fresh-Air Camp, near Cleveland, Ohio. 

The first institution for the effective rescue of anemic, under- 
nourished children in the families of the tuberculous poor was built 
in 1900 at Farmingdale, N. J., by the New York Association of 
Tuberculosis Dispensaries. Dr. Herman Biggs, then commissioner 
of health in New York City, estimated that there were 40,000 chil- 
178 



PREVENTORIA. 



179 




Fig. 88. — Interior tuberculosis preventorium at Farmingdale, N. J. 




Fig. 89. — Plan of the tuberculosis preventorium (or cbildieu at Farmingdale, N. J. 



180 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



dren exposed to tuberculosis in poor homes in New York City alone. 
The tuberculosis dispensaries scattered over the city were in touch 
with thousands of consumptive patients. The majority of them were 
the fathers and mothers or older brothers and sisters of younger 
children who were in constant peril from infection in the two, three, 
and four-room tenement homes of the tuberculous poor. 

The doctors and nurses found it impossible to safeguard these 
children by anything they could do in and for the homes. There 
was urgent need of some near-by institution where they could be 
sent that they might be entirelv removed from the danger of infec- 




FiG. 90. — Herman Kicfer Sanitariuiii Open-air School, Detroit, Mich. 

tion and that their resistance might be built up. There was then no 
such place. 

The summer-outing resources of relief societies and settlements 
were unable to meet the needs of tuberculous children, and, besides, 
their work was confined to two or three summer months and their 
children were sent usually for a stay of only one or two weeks. 

Accordingly the Association of Tuberculosis Dispensaries pur- 
chased a tract of 170 acres of land in the sandy pine belt of Farm- 
ingdale, N. J., easily accessible to New York City, and on it built a 
sanitarium school. The plant consists of a reception pavilion, where 
all the children are quarantined for three weeks following admission, 



PKEVENTORIA. 



181 



a small infirmary, a school for boys, another for girls, and a large 
administration building, which includes a dining room accommo- 
dating 150 children. 

The children are selected by the physicians of the Association of 
Tuberculosis Clinics and are taken from families in which there are 
patients under their care. The children are those whose physical 
condition makes them particularly susceptible to infection. The 
sanitarium school receives these children for a continuous period of 
night-and-dav care. The average length of stav is about three 




I'm. 'Jl. — View iioiii lliL \( rauda, Sea Breeze Hospital for Surgical Tuberculosis, 

Coney Island, N. Y. 

months, and as the capacity of the institution is 150, about COO chil - 
dren are dealt with in the course of the year. 

The preventorium is partly supported by voluntary contributions 
and partly by a per capita allowance from the city. Thus far the 
cost, including all expenses, has been less than $1 per day for each 
child. 

The observance of a simple, wholesome mode of life, which includes 
fresh air, sunshine, food, sleep, play, exercise, cleanliness, regularity, 
and a spirit of comradeship between teachers, nurses, attendants, and 
the children, is mainly relied upon for results. 

The average gain in weight for the usual three months' period 
is 7 pounds. There are occasional records, covering a longer period, 
running as high as 25 pounds. The bearing, mentality, vigor, and 
spirit of the children — though there is no such definite instrument 



182 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



comparable to weighing scales to provide a tangible measure for 
mental life — show every evidence of equal improvement. The exam- 
ining physician says that it is almost impossible to recognize the 
children on discharge, so great has been the change in their appear- 
ance. 

In such an institution as Farmingdale, where health is avowedly 
the first consideration, school life might be expected to take second 
place. On the contrary, it is so well provided for that the children 
lose nothing from their grade standing by their stay at the sanita- 
rium. Three licensed teachers are provided by the New York Board 
of Education, and in a two-hour school period a day for five days a 
week they have found it possible to keep the pupils up to their pre- 




Fk;. 92. — Massachusetts Hospital School, Canton, Mass. 



vious school grade. Indeed, many children could advance a class 
(luring their stay at the sanitarium were it thought wise to increase 
the length of school hours. This is true in spite of the fact that the 
children received are, on the average, one grade in scholarship below 
the normal standing for their age, and many of them are even more 
retarded. 

In addition to the regular school work, Avhich corresponds to that 
of the grades in New York City schools, the girls are taught to sew, 
the boys to do gardening, and all the older children are assigned 
small household tasks in the sleeping shacks or in the dining room. 
They have free range over the broad acres of pine land and get a 
first-hand acquaintance with the fields and with the woods. 



PEEVENTOEIA. 



183 



In the summer of 1914 a group of philanthropic women opened a 
small preventorium at Ridge Farm, near Lake Forest, 111. In its 
construction and management they followed the Farmingdale experi- 
ment, and it is the plan eventually to introduce the work of the 
regular open-air schools as well. 




Fig. 93. — Exterior, East River Homes. Half of the building to the right of the picture 
is leased by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, and 
occupied by families where tuberculosis is one cause of dependency. Note open win- 
dows and beds on balconies. 



A small institution of the same general nature was conducted near 
Hoxsie, R. I., by the Anti-Tuberciilosis Association of Providence 
during the summer of 1913-14. A preventorium for tuberculous 
children has been maintained, but no school work is undertaken. 
The purpose here is chiefly to build up the resistance of specially 
needy children. 



184 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

SANITARIA. 

A sanitarium is an establishment where convalescents, or persons 
suifering from disease, may be received for medical treatment, rest 
cure, and the like; in recent usage the term is particularly applied 
to places where patients suffering from tuberculosis may undergo 
open-air treatment. A sanitarium school receives children in the 
early stages of tuberculosis, either of a surgical or pulmonary nature. 
These are definitely sick children, and, though they follow much the 
same daily program as in a preventorium, they are not allowed so 
much exercise and their hours of school are shortened. Many sani- 
taria, however, are doing what is really preventorium work. 

Sanitarium open-air schools in England. — The sanitarium schools 
for children in England have already been described.^ 

Dr. Esther Carling, medical superintendent of the Kingwood and 
Maitland Sanitarium at Peppard Common, Oxon, England, makes 



Fig. 94. — Children's cottage at Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. Provides 
for 2.5 children. The school room is at the right end of the building. 

the following suggestions on general arrangements for sanitarium 
schools : 

First, it is well to provide for all classes of tuberculosis at the sanitarium, 
taking care that separate blocks be provided for the surgical cases and that 
the incipient and advanced cases of pulmonary ttiberculosis be separated. This 
will mean separate wings or blocks for the following groups: (a) Little chil- 
dren; ih) sick children; (c) larger boys; {d) larger girls; (c) isolation or 
observation cases; (/) surgical cases, if included. 

Second, a separate room must be provided for the schoolroom, if possible, 
preferably adjoining an open-sided central hall, which should be empty of all 
furniture save a piano and some simple apparutus for remedial exercises. 
This liall can be used for assemblies and for drill and play in wet weather. 
All " sitting-still " lessons can thus be followed by a march around the hall or 
a few minutes' drill and remedial exercises. 

Third, the provision of simple apparatus for Swedish remedial exercises is 
essential for a sanitarium school. Many of the children are underdeveloped 

1 See p. 139. 



SANITARIA, 



185 



and others have the beginnings ^f malformations, which careful remedial 
exercises may completely correct. 

Fourth, a dental room or a surgery in which dentistry can he comfortably and 
effectively carried on is also essential. Any treatment of tuberculosis in chil- 
dren that does not make provision for dental care is faulty. It often happens 
that it is hard to get to a good dentist from a country sanitarium. 

Fifth, there is less objection to a big ward for children than for adults, pro- 
vided that about one-half of the children in each section are accommodated in 
small rooms of one, two, or three beds. This may be desirable for the sake of 
discipline or on account of noisy sleep or coughing; and small rooms also allow 




Fig. 95. — Ridge Farm Preventorium, Deerflekl, 111. 



a certain amount of adjustment of the sexes, if there happen to be, for instance, 
more boys than girls in the institution. 

Sixth, room should be left for children's gardens, and these will be better 
worked if each plat has a path around it and if a stand-pipe for water is avail- 
able nearby. 

Seventh, while the number of children that are to be provided for must vary 
with the needs of the locality, the essential thing is that the sanitarium school 
should be so arranged that every individual child should be known fully and 
personally to the responsible officers. A minimum of 60 and a maximum of 100 
children is the best number to provide for.^ 

New York Municipal Sanitarium Open-Air School. — Eeports have 
been received from 25 sanitarium and hospital schools in the United 

1 Carling, Dr. Esther. " Construction and Management of a Sanitarium School for Chil- 
dren." In Yearbook of Open-Air Schools and Children's Sanitaria. Edited by T. N. 
Kelynack, M. D. Pp. 16-2t5. 



186 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

States. One of the largest of these schools is that connected with 
the New York City Municipal Sanitarium, located at Otisville, N. Y, 
In 1913, at the request of Dr. Lederle, health commissioner of the 
city of New York, and upon the recommendation of the board of 
superintendents, the Board of Education of New York authorized 
the organization of classes at the Municipal Sanitarium for the 
benefit of children of school age avIio came under the care of the 
above-named institution. 

These classes were made an annex to Public School No. 14, Man- 
hattan, and began work on November 3, 1913. For two years pre- 
vious the sanitarium authorities had been attempting to conduct 
classes for the children who were patients at the institution, but they 
had been dissatisfied with the kind of work which was accomplished, 
, and felt that it would be decidedly more advantageous to have the 
work done under the supervision of the educational authorities of 
the city. 

The aim of the school work is to enable these children who ar6 
forced by ill health to leave the city temporarily^ to resume their 
school work without loss of time or standing upon their return to 
the city. The curriculum, therefore, is similar to that in use in the 
city schools, but modified, wherever possible, to meet the special 
rieeds of the individual child. Upon discharge from the institution 
each child receives a transfer card which entitles him or her to 
admission to any public school in the city in which there is a grade 
corresponding to the one indicated on the card. 

In 1914 there were 92 boys and girls, ranging between the ages of 
5 and 15 in the Otisville Sanitarium School. Two school sessions 
are held daily, from 9.30 to 11.30 in the morning and from 2 to 4 
in the afternoon. 

Other cities. — Louisville, Ky., Detroit and Grand Eapids, Mich., 
Boston, Mass., and Cincinnati, Ohio, have also successful open-air 
schools for tuberculous children in municipal sanitaria. Chicago has 
provided for 250 children in the beautiful cottages of the municipal 
sanitarium opened in 1915. 

Open-air, schools at State sanitaria. — The policy of State sanitaria 
with regard to open-air schools is in process of development. The 
experience of Massachusetts in this regard is therefore significant. 
Previous to 1910 Massachusetts had no sanatarium provision for 
tuberculous children under 14 years of age. In that year sanitaria 
were opened at North Reading, Lakeville, and Reading, and a few 
applications were made at each place for the admission of young 
children having pulmonary tuberculosis. They were admitted and 
cared for, but it was considered undesirable to have them in close 
association with the adult patients and it was found much easier to 



SANITARIA. 



187 



care for several children together than for one or two. They were 
more contented when together, kept by themselves iiioi-e. and they 







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Fig. 9U. — Harlowarden Preveutoriuni, juaintaiued by the United Charities of Chicago, 

near Joliet, HI. 

annoyed the other patients far less. It was therefore decided to send 
all the children to one of the sanitaria and make more adequate pro- 
vision there for their care. 



188 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Westfield was chosen, and under the superintendency of Dr. 
Henry D. Chadwick, the school has rapidly increased in numbers 
and efficiency. In May, 1914, Dr. Chadwick wrote : 

We have about 125 children at the present time, all being sent to the sani- 
tarium because of pulmonary tuberculosis. The school work is secondary to 
the sanitarium treatment. The pupils have fewer rises of temperature, and 
gain weight more steadily during the period when school is in session than 
during vacations. Each child attends but one session of two and one-half 
hours daily. The school is graded according to public-school standards. 

The four higher grades attend the morning session, and the first four grades 
the afternoon session. In addition to this a few children are continuing some 
of their high-school studies. 

Because they live in the open air so much and have widely opened windows in 
the schoolroom, they are always eager and alert and can accomplish in one 
session the average day's work done in the public school. 

Many of the children are backward in their studies because illness has pre-, 
vented regular attendance at school before coming here. • ,; 

After a thorough review of their previous school work they are not only read^ 
to go on easily with their proper grade, but in many instances have been able 
to go into an advanced class. 

Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin 
are among the States which conduct open-air schools at State sani- 
taria for tuberculosis. 

HOSPITAL OPEN-AIR SHOOLS. 

A hospital is an institution in which medical treatment is given to 
the sick and injured. A hospital open-air school is planned for those 
children who are bed cases or who require individual nursing care. 
Most cases of surgical tuberculosis are cared for in hospitals. 

The earliest and possibly the best illustration of such a school in 
this country is to be found in the Sea Breeze Hospital for the treat- 
ment of surgical tuberculosis, maintained at Coney Island by the 
New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. 

The hospital was founded in 1904 " to demonstrate for American 
hospitals, and more especially for American city and State hospitals, 
the healing power of outdoor treatment in the salt air for nonpul- 
monary forms of tuberculosis in children." Such methods had long 
been familiar to European physicians. As far back as 1791 England 
had built the first permanent seaside hospital at Margate. Italy, 
France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, 
Sweden, Russia, Portugal, and Spain have all made similar provision 
for their tuberculous children. 

The hospital was planned to be in operation during the summer 
months only, but even in that short period of time its success was so 
marked that it was decided to continue the treatment through the 
winter. The New York City Board of Education assigned a teacher, 



HOSPITAL OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 189 

and an ungraded school was conducted for the children, at first 
mainly as a therapeutic measure. 

A small frame schoolhouse was built and equipped with specially 
designed desks and chairs which could be adapted to the comfort of 
the deformed and crippled pupils, most of whom were in casts or on 
crutches. Blackboards and school equipment were provided by the 
board of education. No heat is furnished to the schoolroom, but the 
children are so accustomed to sleeping and living out-of-doors at the 
hospital that they seldom mind the winter winds. A room has now 
been fitted up in the hospital building for the kindergartners. 

It is hard to raise flowers and vegetables on the sandy soil by the 
schoolhouse, but perseverance works wonders, and the tiny plat where 
blossoms do persist is one of the chief joys of the children. Manual 
work and gardening occupy a large part of the day. There are fre- 
quent recesses, and at intervals during the forenoon tlie teacher goes 
to. the long verandas where other little patients are strapped on 
boards or held immovable in casts, and gives them 5 or 10 minute 
lessons in reading, history, or oral English. 

It is surprising how much can be accomplished in so short a time. 
The patients are mostly young children or those who have never re- 
ceived any schooling at all prior to their admission to the hospital. 
Some of them have now been carried as high as the fifth or sixth 
grade, and do very satisfactory work. 

The Massachusetts State Hospital School. — The Massachusetts 
State Hospital School for the care and education of the crippled and 
deformed children of the Commonwealth, at Canton, has been prac- 
tically a residential open-air school since its opening on December 1, 
1907. The school occupies 65 acres of rolling land on the shore of a 
beautiful inland lake. It has about 18 acres of woodland. The dor- 
mitories are really out-cloor pavilions, only closed and heated for a 
short time while the children are rising in the morning or retiring at 
night. The classrooms and dining rooms are always open to the air. 

Three hundred children are cared for, and the percentage of sick- 
ness from tonsillitis, croup, catarrhal colds, and other foul-air dis- 
eases, usually so high in institutions of this sort, has been negligible, 
a fact which the superintendent attributes entirely to the open-air 
conditions. 

Most of the pupils are able to attend school on an average of an 
hour and a half daily. They receive instruction in kindergarten 
and first-grade work, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geog- 
raphy, history, language, drawing, nature studies, and music, accord- 
ing to their individual requirements, but special emphasis is laid 
upon the practical work which they are taught to do. The girls, in 
addition to receiving carefully graded instruction in sewing and 
cooking, do practically all the housework of the institution. The 



190 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

boys have been taught to assist with the construction of new build- 
ings, to do most of the farm work, and to assist the engineer in 
planning the plumbing and lighting of the buildings. 

Sloyd work is given on three days of every week with printing 
and cobbling lessons in connection with it. Among the children 
trained in industrial work, a number have found steady work out- 
side. One permanently crippled boy who was instructed in the 
engine room found a good place as a first-class licensed fireman, with 
a prospect of advancement. 

The study of forestrj^ is also carried on with a view toward fitting 
the boj^s for future self-support. 

Open-air schools for children with surgical tuberculosis are car- 
ried on at the James L. Kernan Hospital and School for Crippled 
Children at Baltimore, Md., and at the Chicago School for Crippled 
Children. 

Home Hospital^ New York City. — On March 18, 1912, the New 
York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor inaugu- 
rated an important experiment in the combined home and hospital 
treatment of families in which tuberculosis was one cause of depend- 
ency. The association leased 24 apartments in the East River 
Homes, a model tenement building at Seventy-eighth Street and 
John Jay Park, New York City. The families who were moved 
into the apartments had already been receiving aid from the associa- 
tion, and each had one or more tuberculous members. 

The association attempted to demonstrate the medical and eco- 
nomic practicability of treating as a unit a family in poverty and 
afflicted with tuberculosis. The results obtained during the first year 
were so satisfactory that on November 24, 1913, a second section of 
24 apartments was leased, enlarging the hospital to 40 families with 
120 patients. An operating room and a dental clinic have been estab- 
lished. Seventy-four families, containing 361 in^viduals, of whom 
226 had tuberculosis, received medical care between March 18, 1912, 
and January 1, 1914. Thirty-five of the families have at the time of 
writing left the hospital; 23 of them sufficiently improved to bring 
about social and economic rehabilitation. 

Since the association has realized that the great problem in the 
fight against tuberculosis is to prevent infection of new victims, the 
children are receiving the greatest attention. An intensive study of 
196 Home Hospital children showed that about one-third of them 
already had tuberculosis and approximately another third were prob- 
ably infected. At the Home Hospital the children are practically 
isolated from the infected adults. The food for the whole family is 
carefully planned by a trained dietitian, and the children receive 
extra nourishment twice daily. Two open-air schoolrooms and an 



VOCATIONAL TKAININO FOK TUBERCULOUS CHILDREN. 191 

oi)en-air kindergarten room have been constructed on the roof of the 
tenement building. 

Teachers were furnished by the New York City Board of Educa- 
tion. At their admission over 75 per cent of the children were in 
very bad physical condition, most of them with such pathological 
symptoms as enlarged tonsils, adenoids, glands, etc. With defects 
corrected and their life in the open air, they have made remarkable 
improvement. But most important from the standpoint of eco- 
nomics the Home Hospital has proved that its methods of treating 
combined poverty and tuberculosis cost less than the plan of caring 
for the sick in hospitals or sanatoria, plus the relief necessary to 
maintain the remaining members of the family either in their homes 
or in institutions. 

Preventorium care for children costs about 80 cents per day for 
each child. Care at such sanitaria as Ray Brook and Otisville costs 
$1.28 to $1.36 a day. At the Home Hospital the per diem per capita 
cost of supervision and administration was reduced to 18.3 cents, 
and the average cost per day per person for all expenses is about 
66 cents. 

VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR TUBERCULOUvS CHILDREN. 

An institution which cares for children handicapped in their 
efforts at self-support by noticeable deformity or irremediable defects 
usually makes some effort at teaching trades. Little has as yet been 
done in this line, however, for the children equally, but less obvi- 
ously, handicapped by physical weakness and susceptibility to 
infection. 

Dr. Allan Warner, school medical officer at Leicester, England, 
suggests the establishment of an open-air agricultural college and 
labor exchange in connection with residential open-air schools. In- 
struction would include courses in stock raising, chemistry of soils, 
rotation of crops, tending of orchards, and the like. Forestry, land- 
scape gardening, and dairy farming suggest themselves at once as 
suitable out-door occupations which offer prospects of a good liveli- 
hood. 

It may be necessary to face squarely the proposition that certain 
children will never be able to endure the confinement of office or 
mercantile employment without constant danger of relapse and to 
plan their education along other lines than the ordinary academic 
work of the grades. The best instructions should be secured with 
a view to placing the whole undertaking on a vocational basis. Such 
an institution as an open-air agricultural college should within a 
few years become largely self-supporting by raising fine stock and 
food products, to say nothing of its social value. 



192 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Whether or not training of this kind is immediately available, 
no child of working age should be permitted to leave a residential 
open-air school to seek employment without having received definite 
advice as to suitable occupations for one in his condition. If there 
is a vocational guidance bureau of any sort in the community, he 
should be urged to avail himself of its guidance. 

All children should be carefully watched during the first years 
of their working life to guard against the danger of relapse. They 
should return to the dispensaries of the school for frequent reexami- 
nations until their health gives evidence of ability to withstand the 
strain of continued work. 

English schools have developed what they call " voluntary after- 
care committees," which keep in touch with such working children, 
try to secure them suitable employment, see that their home life is 
kept up to standard, urge them to return for examination, and make 
a written report to the school yearly or oftener on their condition. 

Qualifications of Teacher for Institutional School. — In no other 
form of open-air school work does more depend upon the personality 
of the teacher than in the institutional school. The pupils are iso- 
lated from normal family life and find themselves in an environment 
totall}^ different from anything in their previous experience. They 
are frequently undergoing much physical suffering. Some of them 
have only unpleasant recollections of school, because of irregular at- 
tendance, difficulty in learning, possible ridicule of schoolmates, and 
physical discomfort. Many of them have never attended school at 
all. Their first attitude toward things educational is apt to be un- 
friendly. To win their confidence and awaken their interest requires 
patience and tact of a high order. 

The teacher must, furthermore, hold all her plans of work subject 
to change at physician's orders; she must learn to expect frequent 
shifts in membership and adjust herself cheerfully to unexpected 
emergencies; above all she must have a wholesome sense of humor, 
abounding physical health, and an optimism that refuses to be 
shaken. Her training should be adequate along academic lines and 
should include speical preparation in manual work, hygiene, and 
nature study. 

If possible, the teacher should live at the institution. She will 
have a clearer understanding of the real condition of her charges 
if she mingles with them out of school hours, and there will be more 
imity of action with nurses and physicians. 

Essentials for the Hospital or Sanitarium School. — Wherever the 
work of the hospital sanitarium school has been successfully carried 
out in this country or abroad, certain facts have characterized the 
management. 



VACATION SCHOOLS. 193 

1. There has alwa3'^s been a sufficient number of children to justify 
the employment of a teacher at a stated salary for specified hours of 
work. 

2. The teacher has held a certificate from the local or State board 
of examiners and has Avorked under some kind of supervision by a 
higher educational authority. 

3. In most cases it has been considered highly desirable, if not 
essential, that the teacher be able to give instruction in elementary 
manual training, and that she be capable of leading in nature study. 

4. Since all ages and grades are apt to be represented at the sani- 
tarium school, the teacher has been expected to qualify to instruct 
any grade between the kindergarten and the high school. 

5. Some school equipment has been provided — in most cases desks 
or chairs, blackboards, books, etc. 

6. There has been some fixed place for hearing the recitations, 
removed from disturbance by other patients. Various types of open- 
air structures^ built or remodeled for this purpose, are illustrated in 
this chapter. 

7. An attempt has been made to work out a curriculum whicli 
approximates that of the local school systems represented by the 
patients. 

VACATION SCHOOLS. 

The vacation period has for many years been a problem of 
peculiar interest, especially to social workers and to teachers. It 
has increased in importance with the development of industrial 
centers and the gathering of people into large cities. The " street 
and alley time" of boys and girls becomes increasingly important 
on the physical and moral side, as well as on the intellectual. With 
the end of the school year school buildings and grounds have closed 
and the children have been turned loose to the uncertain vicissitudes 
of the streets. Especial attention has been called to this problem 
through the rapidly multiplying juvenile courts, whose records show 
increased activity in the months when school is closed. 

Among the most effective agencies that have been developed to 
help meet this need are the vacation schools and country outing work. 
The education committee of the London County Council in 1912 
made a report on vacation schools and organized play. The report 
states : 

The first vacation experiment appears to have been made in Switzerland in 
1878 by a clergyman named Bion, who took a number of children to the Appen- 
zeller Highlands during the holidays. In 1883 this experiment was followed 
by the organization of health-vacation colonies at Amsterdam. In 1888 the 
first summer colony for primary school children in Russia was founded by 
Miss Orloff. The enterprise rapidly developed under the auspices of the 
Muscovite society. The type of colony was modeled on one of those of the 
97855°— Bull. 23—17 13 



194 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Swiss, and with the introduction in 1890 by the Moscow Educational Council of 
medical control in the ordinary day schools, the school doctors were asked to 
advise and assist in the scheme. * * * During the 23 years that the Musco- 
vite association has been in existence 572 colonies have been founded, and 
11,861 children have been sent to them, all of whom have gained in physical, 
mental, and moral well-being. It is estimated that 44 per cent of the children 
sent each year have never been out of Moscow before. 

In 1896 the vacation-scliool movement began in Chicago, 111., and 
Cambridge, Mass., and in 1898 in New York. The first vacation- 
school experiment in England was made in the summer of 1902. 
Through the energy and enterprise of Mrs. Humphrey Ward a 
vacation school was established at Passmore Edwards Settlement. 



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Fig. 97. — Country outings for city school children. 

In June, 1905, the education committee decided that the practice of 
affording facilities for the establishment of vacation schools should 
be continued and that the education committee should submit pro- 
posals showing in detail the facilities it desired the council should 
afford for the establishment of not more than 12 such schools. 

The vacation schools, both in European countries and in the 
United States, have become useful both for health promotion and 
conservation and suggestive as educational agencies. In Chicago 
and other American cities applications from children for admission 
are always in excess of the capacity of such schools. Perhaps the 
time will come when the schools will accept more responsibility for 



VACATION SCHOOLS. 195 

the vacation period and have extensions in the parks and in the 
country. 

The coiintry-oiiting movement is closely akin to the vacation 
school. In nearly all the large cities of the United States and in 
cities abroad the summer season sees great activity in taking children 
off the streets and into the country to camps and to country homes. 
In the main it is a health and recreation movement. However, it 
has a marked educational value. The games and walks, the oppor- 
tunities for observation and for becoming acquainted with a new 
set of surroundings and circumstances, the association with teachers 
and recreation leaders, make the outing work very beneficial from 
the educational point of view\ Children come back from the country 
refreshed and invigorated. Outings are not restricted to debilitated 
children, but the aim is usually to take those who live in the most 
congested parts of the cities and from homes where there is a limited 
number of rooms and restricted income. 

In all this work it is interesting to note how the education possi- 
bilities come to the front. Just as the teaching profession is becom- 
ing more impressed with the necessity of emphasizing health work, 
so those who started from the health side quickly become impressed 
with the desirability of affording appropriate educational facilities. 
It is the ultimate purpose of the open-air school to bring both of 
these activities to the most effective service of the children. 



Chapter XII. 

EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA OF 
OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



" More air ! More air ! More air in the sclioolroom ; more air in 
the lungs ; more air in the curriculum ! " was the concluding state- 
ment of a brilliant address on open-air schools delivered by Dr. 
Albert Mathieu at the third international congress on school hygiene 
held in London in 1907. 

The fervent reception of this sentiment by the large audience gave 
convincing evidence that "more air in the curriculum" especially 
appeals to teachers. 

The open-air school and the ungraded classes which have been in- 
troduced into the schools in recent years have given abundant proof 
that the interest, enthusiasm, and hearty support of teachers are 
readily enlisted in educational work which makes for better care of 
the individual child. 

Advocates of the open-air school movement do not overlook the 
value and necessity of carefully planned curricula. The indoor 
public schools have the task of providing educational facilities for 
all the children. Grading, system, large classes, and mass dealing 
are necessities of the present situation. 

The open-air school idea, however, is a plea for more definite 
knowledge about the needs and possibilities of individual children, 
and for an elasticity and sensitiveness on the part of the school man- 
agement that will insure each child more certainly and in a greater 
degree the care and attention he needs. There are few traditions in 
this work to hamper a teacher or to impose standards which she feels 
she must meet or be counted a failure. She has more freedom, more 
chance for originality in striving for results. Open-air-school work 
ought not to crystallize into a rigid system or routine, because its 
programs and activities should always be based on a thorough knowl- 
edge of individual children's capacities and needs. 

Length of session. — Theoretically the length of the daily session in 
the open-air school corresponds to that in the public school ; prac- 
tically, it is somewhat longer, especially Avhen daily cold-shower 
baths are given in the morning. The children arrive from 8 o'clock 
to 8.30, prepare for their bath, dress again, and put on the extra 
wraps or costumes provided for the open air. By 9 o'clock they 
196 



EDUCATIONAL OKGANIZATION AISTD CURRICULA. 197 

are read}'^ for the schoolroom, where they remain until noon, but 
the session is broken by frequent exercises between recitations and 
often by a morning lunch at 10 or 10.30. Sometime during the 
forenoon a nurse comes to inspect the classes, to take temperatures, 
and to call certain children before the physician for special ex- 
amination. Following the noon dinner, an hour is given to rest. 
The school period closes at 3 or 3.30, but the children have still to 
remove their school wraps and prepare to go home. During the 
winter months it is often 15 or 20 minutes after the close of school 
before the}^ are ready for the street. It is estimated that the actual 
length of time given to recitation is shortened from an hour and a 
half to two hours in most open-air schools, but the children really 
spend a longer time at the school because of the unusual features 
of the daily program. 

Only two or three open-air schools in this country are in session 
six days a week, \\lien this is true, Saturday is usually given over 
to manual training, gardening, or other forms of hand work, and is 
often selected as the day for weekly weighing. Many persons feel 
that all open-air schools should be continued throughout the entire 
week, since children almost always lose in weight after two days at 
liome. On the other hand, there might be difficulty in securing the 
consent of parents to the admission of children if they felt that the 
children would be away from home also on Saturday. 

There seems to be no question but that it would be advisable to 
continue open-air schools through the summer vacation, except for 
such children as come from good homes and are assured of excellent 
care through the summer months. The work can be varied, with 
greater emphasis placed on the outdoor activities, and both physi- 
cally and mentally the pupil will be better off than if he spent 
July and August at home or on the street. This is particularly true 
when the location of the school makes it possible to do considerable 
garden work and to have access to woods and meadows. 

Size of class. — The regulations of the English board of education 
require that no more than 20 children shall be assigned to 1 
teacher in an open-air school. The custom in this country has been 
to hold the number between 25 and 30, with 25 preferred. In towns 
where only one open-air school is conducted, or in cities where fresh- 
air classes are few and far between, it may happen that every one 
of the eight grades is represented among the 25 pupils. Under such 
circumstances flexibility of grading becomes a necessity, and the 
nonessentials are quickly eliminated from the curriculum. It will 
usually be true that such a group of children can be classified into 
three main divisions for purposes of study and recitation, rather 
than attempting to follow the ordinary grade distinctions. Promo- 
tion then becomes a very informal affair, based on mastery of a 



198 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



subject rather than on time spent in a grade, and the bugbear of 
final examinations generally disappears. 

It must be remembered, however, that the children who enter an 
open-air school are there only temporarilj?^, and that on discharge 
they must return to the ordinary school to continue their studies 
in competition with children who have received the full training of 
the grammar grades. Parents sometimes object to letting a bright 
and ambitious child enter the open-air school for fear that he will 




Fig. 98. — Breathing exercises at the Szombathely, Hungary, Open-air School. 

lose valuable training and be at a disadvantage on his return to the 
public school. 

It is true that the length of time spent on each recitation is con- 
siderably shortened and that some subjects, such as drawing and 
music, may be dropped from the curriculum, but -the high-school 
records of the pupils who have graduated from the Elizabeth Mc- 
Cormick Open-air Schools, after some years of attendance under 
the modified school program, show that they more than hold their 
own in competition with schoolmates who have had the formal 
training of the grammar schools. This is also the testimony from 
foreign schools. 

Parents need not fear loss of rank for their children. Rather they 
will find such an increase in ability to concentrate and in the power 
of sustained attention that an advanced study becomes easier instead 
of more diflficult. A 10-minute recitation, with the child's mind really 



EDUCATIOiSrAL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA. 199 

concentrated on the subject at hand, is worth more than 30 minutes 
of desultory attention. 

Number of gradea to teacher. — The number of grades which a 
teacher can handle successfully will depend upon her abilitj'^ and 
previous experience, and upon the number of children whom she is 
to manage. Some very successful schools have been conducted after 
the same fashion as the old-time country school, with the full eight 
grades under one teacher. The system of grouping referred to above 
will provide a much more satisfactory arrangement, however, and 
it is advisable, when possible, to plan for at least 50 children with 




Fig. 99. — Goats and chickens are important members of the school family at the Bowring 
House Country School, Roby, Liverpool, England. 

2 teachers in each open-air center, so that 1 teacher will not need to 
plan her work for more than four grades. 

One feature which adds greatly to the difficulty of the work is the 
frequency with which children are transferred before the end of a 
school session. In a constantly shifting group in an ungraded school 
the teacher must plan her work skillfully if she is to do full justice 
to everyone. The tendency now is to retain open-air school pupils 
longer than was at first the custom, since it has been proved that 
temporary gains may often be lost by too hasty transfer to a closed 
schoolroom. The records of children who have been more than one 
year in an open-air class often show a decided improvement in the 
second year over the work of the first. 

Daily Program. — No standard daily program can be worked out 
which will be of service to all teachers alike, since each must plan 



200 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



her day's work according to her own special group of children and 
hold it ready for change when new pupils are admitted. The Boston 
School Committee, however, has made certain suggestions to the 
teachers of its open-air classes, which are of general significance and 
which are reproduced in full on page 258 in the Appendix. It is 
pointed out that the proper alternation of the periods of work with 
the periods of rest is the principle first to be considered in planning 
the daily program for an open-air school. 

Arithmetic should be taught at periods following rest. The period 
suggested is between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning. Mental arith- 
metic should not follow a lesson in history, writing, drawing, or 
sewing. Writing or drawing should be taught by means of large 
muscular movements, rather than through the sense of sight. Short 
lessons are better than long. 

Physical exercises should be frequently given, but the possibility 
of fatigue should not be overlooked, and the physician should pass 
on the amount of exercise to be allowed each child. The time allow- 
ance for each subject should be so varied by the teacher that the 
pupils may have frequent periods of rest and relaxation. Subjects 
and exercises may be combined in such a way that the educational 
value is increased, rather than diminished, by the shorter period. 

A typical daily program for one of the Boston fresh-air classes is 
given below. In studying this program it must be remembered that 
the classes are for physically debilitated children and not for tuber- 
culous children. Thirty-six pupils are assigned to each class; no 
rest period is given ; and the children go home for the noon luncheon. 
The daily program combines the requirements of the school com- 
mittee, with the special requirements suggested above for open-air 
classes. 

Typical daily program. 
[From the Boston annual school report, 1913.] 



0.00 to 9.10 
9.10 to 9.20 



9.20 to 10.00. 
10.00 to 10.10 
10.10 to 10..30 
10.:iO to 10..")0 
10..-)0 to 11.1.5 
11.1.5 to 11.30 



11.30 to 11.40 
11.40 to 12.00 



Subject. 



Opening e.xercise 

Personal hygiene 

Medical inspection 

Hygiene and physiology teaching 

Arithmetic (as outlined above) 

Music 

Limcheon 

Recess 

Elementary science, manual training, or household science. 

Spoken English 

Reading and literature 

I'hvsical training 

AVritten English 

12.00 to 1.30 ; Home 

1.30 to 1.40 Rest— relaxation— story-telling 

1.30 1 o 1..50 Sight arithmel ic 

1..50 to 2.00 ' Physical training 

2.00 to 2.20 1 Drawing 

2..30 to 3.30 1 Free play— recess 

'.'.30 to 3.00 Geography 

3.00 to 3. 10 1 Physical training ' 

3.10 to 3..30 Oral arithmetic ' 



Grades. 



All. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
I-II. 
IV-V. 
All. 

Do. 
I-III. 
IV, etc. 

Do. 

Do. 



' Alternate days with manual training. 



EDUCATIONAL OEGANIZATIOISr AND CURRICULA. 



201 



The program in Utica, N. Y., shows the possibility of grouping 
when a large number of grades are included in the open-air school. 
Apparently the two divisions of the first grade might also have 
been combined. 

PROGKAM, UTICA, N. Y. 

9.00 to 9.20 Morning exercises. 

9.20 to 9.40 D-E, reading ; C, study reading ; B, study reading ; A, study 

geograpliy. 
9.40 to 9.50 Pliysical exercises. 
9.50 to 10.10 A, geography ; B, copy work ; C, written number work ; D, busy 

work ; E, biisy worlv. 




Fig. 100. — Children on a school journey halting for the noonday lunch, France. 



10.10 to 10.30 B, reading ; A, written worlc ; C. busy work ; D, written number 

worlv ; E, board worlv. 

10.30 to 10.40 Recess. 

10.40 to 11.00 Reading, C-E ; A, B, and C, written spelling; D, busy worlc. 

11.00 to 11.20 Oral spelling, A, P., and C; busy work, D-E. 

11.20 to 11.30 Play time. 

31.30 to 11.45 Arithmetic, C-D ; written arithmetic, A-B ; busy work, E. 

11.45 to 12.00 Music. 

12.00 to 12.30 Dinner. 

12.30 to 1.30 Rest. 

1.30 to 1.35 Chairs put away. 

1.35 to 2.00 Language. 

2.00 to 2.20 A-B, history reading; copy work, C; board work number, D; 
busy work, E. 

2.20 to 2.30 Dismissal. 



11.45 


Arithmetic, I, II, III. 


12.30 


Dinner ; handwork. 


1.30 


Rest, I, II, III; penmanship, 




IV, V. 


2.00 


Arithmetic, IV, V. 


8.00 


Geographj^ IV, V. 


3.20 


Lunch. 


3.30 


Go home. 



202 OPEW-AIR SCHOOLS. 

The St. Louis daily program indicates a possible arrangement 
when six grades are included in the school : 

DAILY PROGRAM OPEN-AIR SCHOOL, ST. LOUIS.^ 

8.00 Arrive at school. 
8.30 Baths. 
8.45 Lunch. 

9V15 School (reading, I, II, III, IV, 
V Grades). 
10.15 Language, I, II, III, IV, V. 
11.00 Recreation ; dancing. 
11.25 Rest, IV, V; penmanship, I, II, 
III. 

Qualifications of teacher. — The teacher of an open-air class should 
be well trained in the ordinary grammar school subjects and should 
have special preparation in manual training and nature study. She 
must be adaptable, alert, genuinely interested in the health of her 
pupils, and alive to the possibilities of her position. The open-air 
school should not be considered a place of refuge for nervously 
exhausted women, or for arrested cases of tuberculosis, unless a 
physician's certificate has been obtained, showing that the teacher 
is fully capable of handling the heavy work of an ungraded class. 
Women with throat trouble or with Bright's disease should not 
undertake the work. Teachers of experience in open-air work agree 
in saying that they are more free from fatigue and backache at the 
close of the day than they have ever been in closed school work, 
since the tension of discipline is greatly reduced and the nervous 
strain of constantly forcing tired children to school tasks is done 
away with. 

WHAT A TEACHER SHOULD OBSERVE FROM THE HEALTH SIDE. 

1. The adjustment of windows and screens. 

2. That no child is unduly exposed to drafts. 

3. That children are properly clad. 

(a) See that heavy sweaters, Eskimo suits, coats, and heavy underwear 

are not worn in mild weather. 
(&) See that children are sufficiently clad when weather suddenly turns 

cold. 
(c) Know if children have wet feet. 

4. Which children have had glasses prescribed and whether they wear them. 

5. Which children fail to hear readily, and especially failure of hearing on 

part of children who usually hear well. 

6. The development of acute colds and nasal discharge. 

7. Development of signs of nervousness and irritable disposition. 

8. Development of listlessness and inability to concentrate. 

9. Failure of interest in school work. 

1 Two years' work by the St. Louis Society for the Relief and rrevention of Tubercu- 
losis, 1910-11. 



EDUCATIONAL OEGANIZATION AND CURRICULA. 



203 



10. Increased interest in school work, and know whether it is due to elevation 

of temperature or general improvement of physical condition. 
.11. If child's hands are cold, and he watchful for evidence of chilling. Children 

often suffer without complaint. 
12. Evidence of weariness in the morning, and learn if due to late hours at 
home. 
Cleanliness. 

Personal habits of children. 

Restlessness during rest period on part of children who usually are quiet. 
Extreme lassitude and inability to waken. 

17. Evidence of failing appetite. 

18. That on returning from bath tlie hair is thoroughly dry and that the children 

are not permitted to return to schoolroom too soon after bath. 





.»>'•: -,.:. - . ■ - - - ■ - - . 






^m 





Fig. 101. — BrcathinE 



exercises ou a wooden platform adjoining 
field, Mass. 



the scliool tent, Spring- 



Pay of teacher. — Because of the unusual features of the open-air 
school "work, indicated above, fresh-air classes are frequently listed 
among the so-called special classes, and the teacher receives additional 
pay. In New York City, Brooklyn, and other eastern cities this 
addit^ional pay amounts to $100 a year. 

Curi'leula. — The curricula of American open-air schools, in con- 
trast with those of the foreign schools, have adhered more nearly to 
the indoor school curricula. This has been due largely to their physi- 
cal nearness to the regular public schools. It is difficult for a teacher 
in an open-window room to get away from the regulation program. 
Removal to a roof or to a separate building seems to release her 



204 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

mind from the rigidity sometimes unconsciously acquired from the 
daily sight of four calcimined walls and five rows of immovable 
desks. If the school can be so situated that a partnership with nature 
is possible, it is the best guarantee against monotony in the cur- 
riculum. 

A kindergarten teacher in a Sacramento, Cal., open-air school says : 

In the open-air kindergarten we find tliat in place of tlie old-time program, 
the week's thought and the changes in. introducing morning talks come to us 
unsought rather than by our seeking. We seem to be in the very midst of 
nature's calls, for birds, butterflies, bees, caterpillars, and spiders appear on 
our window ledge, or pass through the room. Songs or stories are always 
suggested by the children from their environment. 

Under such circumstances it is possible to allow the children more 
freedom of self-expression, and to cultivate their ability for doing 
and making. 

The English reports emphasize the ease with which the elementary 
studies can be worked out along motor and sensory lines, and the 
foreign schools have carried this development much further than 
has yet been done in America, except perhaps at a few private open- 
air schools. This is partly due to the organization of the elementary 
schools in England, which gives much freedom to the headmaster 
of each school in planning the course of study. Teachers of open-air 
schools in England have been practically released from all restric- 
tions as to curricula, and have been given a free rein in working out 
their own theories, provided only that the work is approved by the 
official inspector of the board of education. 

Curriculum o^ Shooters Hill opeurair school. — Thus at the Shoot- 
er's Hill School near London, the headmaster has made manual 
work, nature study, and gardening the basis of his whole curriculum. 
The boys fenced in the garden, built the tool house and hutches for 
pets, boarded up an exposed end of the schoolroom, made the wooden 
slats for foot rests, constructed paths and a drainage system for the 
school garden, and even fitted up a small ornamental pond and 
sun dial. 

Arithmetic, drawing, elementary chemistry, and botany were cor- 
related with the actual manual work. The girls helped with the 
computations and with the lighter work, and had sewing in addition. 

A most interesting feature of the course of study is the method 
of teaching geography. The school overlooks the river Thames and 
its shipping. The steamship companies whose boats dock at the 
London wharfs send to the school descriptions of the boats, their 
routes, and their cargoes. Soon the children learn to recognize the 
funnels, and it is a great event when an East Indian liner comes to 
dock. Geography becomes a living thing, with the whole world 
thus brought to the schoolroom door. In the same way history 



EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA. 



205 



lessons start with visits to the many places of historic interest within 
easy reach of the school. The complete course of study, which is 
full of suggestion for American teachers, is given below. 

Syllabus of Work, Shooters Hill Open-Air School. 

recitations. 

Study and, where possible, learn — 
Class I — 

Home Thoughts from Abroad (R. Browning). 

My Heart lieaps Up (Wordsworth). 

T>ines Written in Early Spring (Wordsworth). 




Fig. 102. — A school garden on a city roof, Horace Mann School, New York City. 



To the Cuckoo (Wordsworth). 

Reverie of Poor Susan (Wordsworth). 

To a Butterfly (Wordsworth). 

The World is Too Much with Us (Wordsworth). 

A Wish (S. Rogers) ; Expostulation and Repl.y (Wordsworth). 
Class II — 

The Royal George (Cowper) ; The Daisies (Sharman). 

The Rainbow Fairies (Hadley) ; Morte d'Arthur (Tennyson). 

Selections from Hiawatha (Longfellow). 

The Village Blacksmith (Longfellow). 
Class III—- 

Baby Seed Song (Nesbitt) ; The Brown Thrush (Larson). 

Daffydowndilly (Thompson) ; The Rabbits (Thompson). 



206 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

How the Leaves Came Down (Mary Howitt). 
Clouds (Sharman) ; selections from Hiawatha (Longfellow). 
Class IV — 

Song from Pippa Passes (Browning). 

The Tree in Winter (Shakespeare) ; Little by Little. 

Under the Greenwood Tree (Shakespeare). 

What a Bird Thought; Noontide (Anon.). 

Baby Seed Song (Nesbitt) ; The Babes in the Wood (Anon.). 

KEADING. 

Class I — 

Hereward the W' ake ; Children of the New Forest ; Treasure Island ; Kent, 
Past and Present. 
Cla^s II— 

Tales of the Court of King Arthur ; David Copperfield ; Highroads of 
History^ 
Class III— 

Stories of Robin Hood ; Seaside and Wayside Readers ; Coral Island ; 
Highroads of History. 
Class IV— 

Chambers' Effective Readers ; The Golden Dawn Readers. 
Oeneral — 

Nature Tales and Myths ; Simple Greek Myths. 

COMPOSITION AND DICTATION. 

1. Coi-rection of common mistakes in speech. 

2. Oral composition, including the telling and acting of simple stories. 

3. Written composition chiefly on subjects dealing with the nature and 

history lessons. 

ARITHMETIC. 

Class I — 

1. Measurement of length (foot rule, tape measure, chain, and hoop), 

area (square, rectangle, triangle, and circle), volume (cube, rectangu- 
lar prism), and weight. 

2. Easy decimals and a general knowledge of the metric system, with 

special reference to the children's height and weight. 

3. Simple proportion. 

4. Exercises in profit and loss, and percentages based on the cultivation 

and sale of school-garden produce, and on other familiar trans- 
actions. 

5. Angular measurements to aid in determining heights of trees, diameter 

of pond, etc. Use of protractors and simple theodolites. 

6. Exercises in reading thermometer, barometer, rain gauge, and anemom- 

eter. 
Class II— 

1. Revision of multiplication tables, and simple fractions. 

2. Revision of and more difficult examples in the compound rules. 

3. Long division ; factors to be used where possible. 

4. Measurement of length, weight, and volume; plans and scales. Tlie 

objects considered to be chiefly those found in the neighborliood or 
met with in the children's daily life. 

5. Simple exercises in fractions, with practical examples. 

6. Exercises in reading thermometer and barometer. 



EDUCATIOXAL ORGAXIZATION AXD CUEEICULA. 207 

Class III— 

1. Completion of multiplication table. 

2. Four compound rules involving small sums of money ; these to be ex- 

plained by means of coins. 

3. Simple ideas of the commonest weights and measures, i. e., those that 

are used in ordinary shopping. 

4. Simple fractions, such as *, i, i, i, i, s ; practical methods of obtaining 

them. 

5. The clock face and how to read it ; simple problems thereon. 

6. Simple information respecting " degrees," to assist the children in read- 

ing the thermometer. 
Class IT— 

1. Composition of such numbers as 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, IS, 20. 

2. Multiplication tables, i. e., 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 times as far as 6. 

3. The four simple rules, the numbers to be involved not to be greater than 

100. Easy problems illustrated by free drawing. 

4. Simple measurements dealing with inches, feet, and yards ; practical 

work to be taken. 

5. An elementary knowledge of money — bronze and silver coins. Some 

idea as to what articles can be purchased for ^d.. Id., 6d., etc. 

6. Simple fractions H, i, i) taught by means of paper folding, clay 

modeling, etc. The clock face should also be introduced here. 

N. B. — More difficult exercises may be used in the case of the more 
advanced children. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

General — 

Special stress is to be laid on the fact that the soil, climate, environment, 
and other natural features of a locality are the factors which usually de- 
termine and limit the occupations of the people occupying that locality. 
Raised maps are to be made to illustrate the geography lessons. The 
chief local geographical features should be taught to ^11 classes. 

Class I— 
The eight chief lines of ocean-going steamers (Allan, Orient, P. & O., British 
India Steam Navigation Co., Union Castle, New Zealand Shipping Co., etc.) 
which are connected with the Albert and Victoria Docks ; the cargoes 
which they take from and bring to London ; general facts concerning the 
countries in which they have ports of call ; distances covered and time 
taken by steamers ; models of their respective funnels and flags. 

Class IT— 

1. Chief physical features and industries of England and Wales. 

2. The imaginary purchase of British goods used in connection with the 

buildings, apparatus, meals, etc., at the open-air schools, and the prob- 
able methods by means of which they were brought to the school site. 
Class III— 

1. Geography of Kent, Essex, and the Thames, with special reference to 

their industries. 

2. Interesting details concerning Greenwich, Woolwich, Plumstead, Charl- 

ton, Erith, Eltham, Chislehurst, Epping Forest, Shooter's Hill, and 
Bostal Hill. 
Class IV— 

1. Story of Father Thames. 

2. Type of district that would be chosen by a hunter, a shepherd, a miner, 

a farmer, and a fisherman ; reasons for their choice. 



208 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



3. Methods of obtaining food (eggs, fruit, corn, meat, etc.) and shelter 

(trees, caves, huts, etc.). 

4. Physical features of the neighborhood. 



The improvement in the social and industrial life of the English people as 
illustrated by the history of Kent. The following points are to be dealt 
with : 

1. The first inhabitants of Kent. 

2. Roman associations ; roads, camps, and antiquities. Julius Cfesar. 



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mM 


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^,^4^el*»^-'■••■ 




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HjH 


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TOriii '*i""^i 


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Fig. 103. — Computing height of trees at Uffculme Open-air School, Birmingham, England. 

3. Saxon conquest of Kent. Introduction of Christianity— Coming of the 

Danes, and the beginning of the landlord system. Earl Godwin and 
Harold. 

4. Norman invasion and Middle Ages, Domesday Book; Norman architec- 

ture; Lesnes Abbey; Thomas a Becket ; Canterbury Pilgrims; King 
John's Palace at Eltham ; Wat Tyler's Rebellion; Welhall and Sir 
Thomas Moore ; Woolwich Dockyard. 

5. Modern times; historical objects and men of Woolwich, e. g.. Rotunda, 

Severndroog Castle, Gen. Gordon. 

Where convenient, and especially in the younger classes, brief plays and 
tableaux should be introduced to illustrate various historical events. 

The models to be made by the various classes are: British barrow, British 
hut, Roman camp, Saxon village, Norman castle, a part of Lesnes Abbey, 
St. Augustine's Cross, and an archery butt; ancient domestic and war im- 
plements should also be attempted. 



EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATTOISr AXD CURRICULA. 209 

NAXrKE STUDY. 

The nature work should deal with the animal and vegetable life found at or 
near the open-air school, and with the local climate and soils. The various 
" subjects " should not be isolated, but special stress should be laid upon 
the interdependence of plant and animal life, these again being influenced 
by the soil and climatic conditions. A selection may therefore be made 
from the following, according to the powers of the children and the pre- 
vailing season, etc. : 

1. Earth kiwirlcdf/r. — Lessons on various rocks, e. g., clay, sand, gravel, 

flint, chalk, and granite ; the types of scenery produced by these rocks. 

2. Weather ohserrations — 

(1) Wind, rain, dew, hail, snow, and fog. 

(2) Information concerning the barometer, thermometer, rain gauge, 

anemometer, and sundial. 

(3) Clouds and cloud sketching. 

(4) Elementary information concerning sun, moon, and stars. 

3. Plant and animal life — 

(1) Awakening in hedgerow and pond — seeds, buds, primrose, colts- 

foot, birds' nests, frog, dragon fly, etc. The local trees. 

(2) Summe7-'s glory. — Buttercup, daisy, grasses, rushes, rose, bee, 

wasp, butterfly, moth, ant, etc. 

(3) The season of rest. — Evergreens, hibernation, etc. Some of the 

nature lessons will be taken in connection with the gardening, 
for which there is a separate syllabus. 

GARDENING. 

1. Soils. — Heavy and light soils and their preparation for crops. 

2. Manures. — Natural and artificial. 

3. Seeds. — Preparation of seed bed and methods of sowing. 

4. Transplantinff. — When and how to transplant seedlings. 
J). IIoic to prolong the flowering stage of a plant. 

6. Fertilization of flowers and setting of seed; culture of various fruits and 

vegetables. 

7. Garden operations. — Watering, digging, double and bastard trenching; 

hoeing, its uses in clearing weeds and conserving water. 

8. An allotment. — Its arrangement and care. 

9. In the choree of plants care is taken to include those most useful in nature 

lessons. 

10. Exercises in profit and loss, percentages, etc., based on garden produce. 

Digging and preparation of clay for pottery. 

11. Clay modeling. 

MUSIC. 

Upper division — 

1. Breathing exercises. 

2. Voice training. Exercises to oo, ah, oh, ay, ee. 

3. Ear-training. Simple phrases consisting of four notes, time and tune 

combined. 

4. Sight reading — 

(a) Tonic sol-fa — time and tune combined. 

(b) Staff — easy passages in keys C, F, G in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. 
97855°— Bull. 23—17 14 



210 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

5. The modulator — the first flat and sharp keys. 

6. Songs — 

(ft) "Who is Sylvia?" 

(&) "I know a Bank." 

(c) " Oh Mistress Mine." 

(d) "On Wings of Song." 

(e) "The Ash Grove." 
(/) " Spring Song." 

,{g) "Ye Banks and Braes." 
Lower Division — 

1. Breathing exercises. 

2. Voice training — voice exercises to oo, oh, ah, ay, ee. 

3. Ear training. Simple phrases consisting of three notes. 

4. Sight reading — 

(a) Tonic sol-fa time and tune combined. 

(&) StafC — easy passages in Key C in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. 

5. Songs — 

(a) "Who is Sylvia?" 

(6) R. L. Stevenson's Songs for little children. 

(c) "Ye Banks and Braes." 

(d) "The Ash Grove." 

(e) " Spring Song." 

HANDWOEK. 

Boys mul Girls — 

Modeling in plasticine. 

Historical and geographical models. 

Gardening, including clay modeling (see separate syllabus). 

Simple repousse vi^ork in connection v^ith light woodwork. 

Weaving in cane, bast, or string (younger children). 

Graduated exercises in paper, cardboard, and wood connected with sten- 
ciling, etc. 
Girls only — 

Needlework (see separate syllabus). 

Knitting. 
Boys only — 

Simple exercises in fretwork and wood carving (class 8). 

Ordinary woodwork, such as the making of es.sy models (younger boys) 
or wind screen, tool shed (elder boys). 

Metal work (zinc, tin, brass). 

Rustic woodwork (elder boys). 

DRAWING. 

1. Rough sketches to illustrate various lessons. 

2. Water color, pencil, crayon, and chalk work, chiefly to illustrate the 

nature lessons. 

3. Simple design (elder children). 

4. Imagination drawing correlated with literature nnd history. 

NEEDLEWORK. 

Classes I and II — 

1. Patching — calico, print, and flannel. 

2. Darning — stocking web, socks, and dresses. 

3. Stitches used in plain needlework. 



EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND CUEEICULA. 211 

4. Patterns of useful garments (blouses, dresses, underclothing, pinafores. 

overalls) taught by means of paper folding. 
Measuring material required and finding its cost. 

5. Knitting — fancy stitches, skullcaps, etc. 

G. Crocheting with cotton, wool, and macrame string. 
7. Art needlework. 
Classes III and IV — 

1. Various stitches. 

2. Making clothes for dolls ; patterns for these garments to be taught by 

means of paper folding, and then cut out in material. 

ORGANIZED GAMES. 

Boys — 

1. Singing games (younger boys). 

2. Cricket, football, hockey, and rounders, according to the season of the 

year. 
Girls— 

1. Singing games. 

2. Basket ball. 

3. Skipping. 

PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 

1. Marching from Plum Lane School to the open-air school, and vice versa. 

2. Breathing exercises (see separate syllabus). 

3. Special exercises for cold weather. 

Bermei'side Open-Aii' School^ Halifax, England. — The following 
program from the Bermerside Open-Air School, conducted by the 
city of Halifax for physically debilitated children, is typical of the 
arrangement of a day at the English schools : 

TIME TABLE AND SYLLABUS. 



8.00 to 9.00. 


Breakfast. 


9.00 to 9.20. 


Prayers, hymn. Scripture lesson. 


9.20 to 9.30. 


Registration, personal inspection. 


9.30 to 10.00. 


Nature lesson. 


10.00 to 10.30. 


Play, lunch. 


10.30 to 10.45. 


Singing. 


10.45 to 12.00. 


Rlanual work. 


12.00 to 12.30. 


Preparation for dinner, washing, 


12.30 to 1.30. 


Dinner. 


1.30 to 3.30. 


Sleep. 


3.30 to 4.00. 


Play, setting tea table. 


4.00 to 5.00. 


Tea. 


5.00 to 5.45. 


Reading, telling stories. 


5.45 to 6.15. 


Games, impromptu plays, etc. 


6.15 to 6.45. 


Prayers, supper, home. 



setting table. 



English programs show a later hour of dismissal than is customary 
in the American schools. Most English schools have, following the 
rest period in the afternoon, a short school session, then tea, and 
outdoor work or play until 5.30 or 6 o'clock. The longer summer 



212 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

evenings and the ease of transportation make this possible where 
it would not be feasible in the United States. 

Country Schools for City Children, England. — Several English 
cities have established what they call " country schools for city chil- 
dren," to which anemic and debilitated children are sent for summer 
vacations, lasting for a month or two, and Avhere they receive a cer- 
tain amount of instruction. 

One of the most beautiful of these schools is the Bowring House 
Council School at Roby, near Liverpool. Here the curriculum is 
based entirel}^ on nature study. The reading books used are appro- 
priate to country life, and the poems studied relate to nature and 
its teachings. Stories are chosen with corresponding games and 
songs. The letters sent home weekly are descriptive of surround- 
ings and new interest. One special feature of the school curriculum 
is the opportunity for self-expression, as shown in illustrated diaries 
and calendars which decorate the walls of the schoolroom, as well 
as drawings which result from the study of natural surroundings. 
This weekly diary, the mounted specimens, and the productions in 
clay and wood, are valuable results of enlightened observation dur- 
ing country rambles. A special feature is a course of lessons on the 
growth of trees, given weekly. Children learn to recognize the char- 
acteristics of various trees, by actual observation, and a friendly 
spirit of rivalry exists in the search for specimens of flora and fauna. 

The boys learn to distinguish the birds by their various notes, and 
nests are found and carefully examined. Many opportunities thus 
arise for emphasizing the value of bird life. Butterflies, insects, 
frogs, and toads are studied. The children notice the blossoming of 
the shrubs and fruit trees, and the effect of a night's frost on those 
that are not sheltered. They make a note of the moon and its shape, 
night by night, for entry in their diary card. 

The care of live stock, including chickens, ducks, goat, rabbits, dog, 
cat, canary, and two donkeys, proves a very popular occupation. 

School gardens provide many of the vegetables used at the table. 
Visits are made to places of special interest in the neighborhood, as 
a quarry, briclv works, a pottery plant, an old church, and a near-by 
farm. 

The necessary household duties occupy the jfirst part of the morn- 
ing, each child having a special task to perform. Some are bed 
makers, others dust the rooms or peel potatoes, while some are en- 
gaged in washing up, and others in boot cleaning. All the little ones 
are kept very busy with the cleaning of spoons and the like. The 
girls also are taught to darn the stockings and mend the clothes and 
make the working aprons. The boys take part in the household 
work and darning, but practical woodwork interests them more. 



EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULA. 213 

Under direction they have made the houses and runs for the hve 
stock. 

Thrift is encouraged by banking the chikh-en's money on arrival, 
and by receiving frequent deposits. " Shopping days " are allowed 
twice a week, when money can be obtained from the bank, but careful 
account has to be kept of the expenditures. 

In these and many other waj^s the community life of the school 
is related to the studies which are pursued. 

An English roof school. — That the possibility of introducing novel 
ideas and methods into the curriculum does not depend wholly upon 
a country location for the school is shown b}^ the following account 
of a school on an' English roof. 

The school equipment consists of a block of blank paper, pencil, 
water colors or pastel material for handwork, and the usual school 
textbooks. The teachers in charge keep diaries which list short les- 
sons providing as much individual work as possible to the children, 
and in which are entered the amount of work done, and any other 
points worthy of notice. 

First of all, in the morning the children walk about the roof, which 
commands an expanse of 40 miles from east to west. Such a wide 
prospect has a stimulating effect on children used to the restricted 
view of London streets. Facing the sunny hills to the east, they 
sing an opening hymn. Then, grouped in the sunshine, some count 
the railings, others tell how many more are on one side than on the 
other, and they check each other's results. They find out by actual 
measurements how many feet run are in the fence, how" much iron 
in the bars, how much to paint so many feet, how many bricks in the 
chimney stacks, how long is the playground, how high, how many 
square feet are under cover, how much concrete to cover the floor, 
and so on. The older pupils find the cubical contents of pipes, the 
capacity of cisterns, the adequacy of gutters, and the calculation of 
height by the length of shadows. All are kept busy, with a foreman 
in charge of each group of six. 

For the geography lesson they trace out the direction of the great 
roads with their borrowed telescopes, follow the river, get the posi- 
tion of the rising* ground, and with their hands full of plasticine 
make a model of the landscape as they see it. From these models 
they make real maps, and so learn the relation of the map to the 
landscape. Older children may draw the prominent features of the 
prospect on one side of a glass slip and transfer this to paper, care- 
fully naming all the outstanding features of the landscape, whether 
they be hilltop, factory shaft, or the distant wood. 

The children learn about the clouds as they discover them in the 
sk;^^ and draw them with pale washes of color or murky sepia. The 
kite that they have just flown over the railings, and the toy wind- 
mills that they have each made, tell them of the winds, the shifting 



214 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

direction as the kite travels round, and the force as their tiny mills 
whirr in a flutter. They learn about light and shadow, keep a 
weather chart, and, most interesting of all, by noting and marking 
the moving shadows of stationary uprights they discover something 
of a world that is turning and moving. 

For drawing, they go to large rough drawing boards, hung on the 
railings by rope loops, well papered to give a smooth surface. In the 
classroom it is hard to do any but tiny drawings, but out here they 
make life-size copies. The younger children love to draw on the 
playground floor, and they are allowed to do this with colored chalks. 
By the end of the open-air period the playground is a perfect mosaic 
of sketches. 

History and English can always be acted, and the freedom of the 
open-air classes gives chances for working out little plays by the 
children. 

American open-air school curricula. — Persons who have visited 
open-air schools both abroad and in this country feel that in many 
instances American teachers are simply doing indoor work out of 
doors, without much effort at new methods or means of expression 
as far as the teaching is concerned. However, more careful study of 
the work reveals in almost every instance a conscious groping for 
the same kind of freedom of curriculum which characterizes open- 
air schools in more favorable localities. 

School gardens. — The educational value of the school garden has 
not been overlooked, even in schools where access to the soil is diffi- 
cult, and, everywhere that the site has permitted, the garden has 
been made a special feature of the school. In Rochester a large space 
has been set aside for gardening. Aside from the preliminary 
preparation of the ground, all the work is done by the children 
under the direction of a woman gardener. The school is in session 
throughout the year. In the summer of 1914 they raised vegetables 
enough, with the exception of potatoes, to supply the table through 
the summer and fall. Tomatoes, turnips, carrots, peas, chard, string 
beans, and sweet corn flourished. 

In South Manchester, Conn., where the school is in session during 
10 months only, the children were encouraged to come on certain da5'^s 
during the summer for the garden lesson. A minister living near 
the school volunteered his services as instructor, and hired help to 
divide the land into plats, each 8 by 10 feet, and to apply the fer- 
tilizer. Each child was allowed one of these plats for his own 
ground, and what he raised he carried home. The same seeds were 
planted by all the children — radishes, lettuce, beets, onions, butter 
beans, and sweet corn. There were three community plats where the 
produce was raised for the use of the school. As a result of this work 
many of the children planted gardens at home. 



EDUCATIOIS^AL ORGANIZATION AND CUEEICULA. 215 

The location of the Elizabeth McCormick Open-Air Schools, 1 
and 2, on adjoining roofs of the Hull House in Chicago seemed to 
prohibit any work with gardens, but a near-by roof was found some- 
what sheltered on three sides from prevailing winds, on which for 
the last three summers a very successful flower and vegetable garden 
lias been maintained. Large boxes were carried to the roof and 
filled with soil. The vegetables were started under cold frames late 
in April and early in May. By June there were abundant flowers, 
and during the summer a small crop of vegetables was produced. 
Perhaps the achievement which gave the children the greatest pride 
was a harvest of 150 ears of sweet corn. 

School journeys. — The school journey, as practiced in France, 
Switzerland, and other countries, is described elsewhere in this 
bulletin.^ English work was started in 1896 by the Bellenden Road 
School, Peckham. The plan was to take some 30 or 50 boys by train 
to a convenient and inexpensive hotel, and use that as a center for 
daily expeditions. The idea spread slowly, but the board of educa- 
tion now recognizes for purposes of the attendance grant, "time 
occupied by visits during the school hours to places of educational 
value or interest, or by field work, or by rambles." (Code, art. 44B.) 
The London County Council allows teachers and classes to use its 
tramways at reduced rates, and where they can not be used the 
council pays part of the traveling expenses. A handbook on educa- 
tional visits has been issued wiiich lists places of interest, hours when 
they are open, subjects of educational interest, and special facilities. 
School journeys may last for a week or longer. The council makes 
a grant of not more than $30 a week, or $60 for a longer period, to 
pay for supplies, teacher, provide equipment, and defray the travel- 
ing expenses of the teacher. 

The teachers interested in such expeditions have formed a School 
Journey Association, which publishes the School Journey Record. 
From the Torriano Avenue Guide, the following aims and objects are 
quoted : 

(1) To bring teachers and scholars into closer touch with one another. 

(2) To foster habits of good-fellowship, self-reliance, and unselfishness. 

(3) To study nature on a larger scale than is possible in the classroom. 

(4) To investigate the causes which produce scenery. 

(5) To secure rock, plant, and animal specimens near London. 

(6) To acquire the habit of learning from the world at large, as well as 

from books. 

(7) To extend our knowledge of mankind, past and present. 

(8) To make a special study of a port (Harwich). 

(9) To observe various forms of labor, " especially the naval," and so obtain 

a better idea as to what we are fitted for. 

(10) To gain health and vigor from a week's life at the seashore. 

(11) To learn how to spend a holiday intelligently and happily. 

i See p. 155. 



216 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

With the development of the work, a large number of hotels, farms, 
cottages, and country camps have been listed which can be used as 
centers for expeditions. The cost of the journeys varies considerably. 
Some schools keep the pro rata cost down to $1.50 a week. The ex- 
peditions are planned for normally well children, but there is no 
reason why they could not be undertaken in moderation for the 
physically debilitated. 

In Italy, where inclement weather does not so often need to be 
considered, whole classes may be seen carrying light-weight portable 
desks and knapsacks, and journeying from place to place under the 
guidance of an experienced teacher. Wherever the locality invites 
them, they can unstrap their desks, chairs, and conduct an informal 
recitation. 

Very little work of this sort has been done as yet in the United 
States, but there is no reason why it should not be more widely 
undertaken. 

Playground classes. — Another form of open-air education in- 
creasingly in use in England is the so-called playground class. This 
simply means that certain classes go to the playground for recita- 
tion. Detroit, Mich., where most of the schools have large, shady 
yards, removed from the business streets, tried a similar plan several 
years ago with considerable success. It is only practicable where 
the yard is attractive and removed from noise and dust. Contrary 
to the expectation of the teacher, wherever such classes have been 
conducted it has been found that the attention of the children has 
been excellent, and that discipline has caused no difficulty. 

Physical exercises. — The place of physical culture in the curricu- 
lum of an open-air school has been much discussed. Some physicians 
have gone so far as to forbid any form of violent exercise for the 
children in an open-air school class. Most, however, have recognized 
the value of properly supervised exercise adapted to the need of the 
individual child. The Swedish remedial exercises are frequently used 
and highly recommended by teachers in the foreign schools. Breath- 
ing exercises are sometimes given with the children stripped to the 
waist, so that the instructor can observe the chest formation and the 
action of the lungs. 

The teachers at the Ethical Culture School in New York City 
believe that play constitutes " perhaps the largest single factor in the 
development of the open-air school children." Only once a day, in 
this school, does one lesson follow another without the intervention 
of recess or lunch and rest period, and then there is a 5-minutes' in- 
termission devoted to vigorous play. If a child has become nervous 
or confused in one lesson, he has time to regain his poise and start 
afresh in the following period. Besides, intellectual food, just as 



EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIOlSr AND CURRICULA. 217 

physical food, needs time for digestion, and during this time stuffing 
is harmfuL 

Education means groxcth. — If the function of all well-directed 
education is to foster growth, there can be no question that the open- 
air school affords that opportunity in large measure. Most children 
who apply for admission at American open-air schools come with 
previous school records of poor attendance, low-grade scholarship, 
and depleted energy. The transformation which takes place in their 
attitude toward school and toward life is universally recognized. 
To free a child from such handicaps before they have seriously 
affected his career is the inspiring task set before the teacher of the 
open-air school. Toward its accomplishment every facility of edu- 
cational organization and curriculum should be directed. 



Chapter XIII. 
RESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



In the United States it is an accepted theory that every child 
should have at least that amount of formal education which is meas- 
ured by the completion of the work of the grammar school. In recent 
years attention and interest have centered increasingly on the more 
than 50 per cent of all the children who do not achieve this minimum 
standard. Our attention would have been called to this subject 
earlier if these pupils had accumulated in the schools. Children 
leave school both because they succeed and because they fail, and the 
public has accommodatingly absorbed the failures as well as the 
successes. 

Health inspection of school children and the general advance in 
social work have been factors largely responsible for the new atti- 
tude on this subject. The iDublic now wants to know to what degree 
adverse phj'sical, economic, and environmental conditions are respon- 
sible for the failure of children to get at least through the grammar 
school. On page 161 of his book on Medical Inspection of Schools 
Dr. Ayres gives a table which is perhaps one of the most definite 
statements, though by no means final, yet made as to the effect of 
physical handicaps on school progress. The table, based on a study 
of 3,304 children, in 1908, gives the years required by defective and 
nondefective children to complete the eight grades of the public 
schools of New York City. 

Years required to complete eight grades. 

Children with — Years. 

No defects 8. 

Defective vision 8. 

Defective teeth 8. 5 

Defective breathing — 8. 6 

Hypertrophied tonsils 8. 7 

Adenoids 9. 1 

Enlarged glands 9- 2 

Dr. Ayres further says : 

If these figures are substantially significant for all New York City school 
children, their education:! 1 and economic import is great. According to the 
data, the child with seriously defective teeth requires half a year more than a 
218 



RESULTS OP OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 219 

nondefective child to complete the eight grades. About one-half of the children 
have seriously defective teeth. The handicap imposed by defective breathing 
means six-tenths of a year. About one child in seven has defective breath- 
ing. The child with hypertrophied tonsils takes about seven-tenths of a year 
more than he should. About one child in every four has hypertrophied tonsils. 
The extra time required by the child with adenoids is about one and one-tenth 
years. About one child in eight has adenoids. The pupil Avith enlarged glands 
requires one and two-tenths years extra. Nearly half of the children have 
enlarged glands. 

Dr. Ayres points out that these figures are confined to one city 
and to a comparatively small group of children, and warns against 
any large generalization. However, the figures are significant as 
an indication. Health inspection in public schools has everywhere 
shown that a large percentage of school children have physical 
defects of one kind or another. 

The open-air school has definitely undertaken to deal with school 
children from the health side; consequently, in reports of nearly 
all the open-air schools where results are given they are largely in 
terms of ph^^sical improvement. On the other hand, the usual public- 
school records are mainly concerned with intellectual attainments 
and school attendance. 

There is widespread interest in the results of open-air school work. 
Perhaps the questions most frequently asked are about the effect 
of open-air schools on the grade standing of the children. This is 
especially true of teachers and school authorities. Long emphasis 
on the importance of passing examinations and making grades, and 
the fact that the teachers themselves are ranked according to their 
success in getting children through the course in a given time, ac- 
count for the interest on this point. 

The child needs both health and education. It profits him little 
to achieve the school work if he loses his health. The problem is to 
use the eight years which are required by the compulsory-education 
law from each child in such a wa}^ that it will give him the maximum 
of both physical fitness and training for service. 

In the preparation of this bulletin an effort was made to secure 
as accurate data as possible on both physical and intellectual results 
in open-air school work. The questionnaire sent out by the United 
States Bureau of Education ^ did not cover the matter of school 
standing, but it did call for points concerning the physical, social, 
and economic conditions of children. The school standing and 
progress of the children in Chicago open-air schools were studied 
independently, however, and the findings will be made a part of 
this chapter. 

In order that the reader may have some of the points on the 
social and economic conditions of the children directly before his 

1 See Chap. IIL 



220 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

mind while considering results, a slight repetition may be warranted. 
The questionnaire was answered for 598 open-air school children 
in Chicago and for 620 children in open-air schools from other 
cities. The average number of members in the families of all the 
open-air children in the study was 6.15, and the average number 
of rooms to the family 4 plus. The income in more than 85 per 
cent of the families was about one-half the amount set in the stand- 
ards established by different authorities mentioned in the chapter 
on social and economic conditions. 

The children of the open-air schools for practically all of the 
cities for which returns were made are selected on the basis of 
physical needs. In the following table the symptoms which are 
largely determinative in the selection of children are grouped under 
the general head of "Principal diagnostic findings," and cover 
tuberculosis, anemia, malnutrition, chronic heart troubles, and bron- 
chitis. Other defects, such as diseased tonsils, adenoids, and decayed 
teeth, are given in another division, together with data on defects 
corrected. Each general division is indicated by heavy lines. The 
table gives typical conditions and results. It does not, in most 
cases, include all the open-air school children of the city reporting. 



RESULTS OF OPEX-AIR SCHOOLS. 



221 



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OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



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RESULTS OF OPEX-AIR SCHOOLS. 223 

The material in the above table gives some indication of the health 
activities carried on in open-air schools. A summary is given below : 

CONDITION ON ADMISSION. CONDITION ON DISCH.\KGE. 



Of 598 Chicago open-air school chil- 
dren — 

188 had diseased tonsils 81 children, 

165 had adenoids 65 children, 

466 had decayed teeth 347 children, 

152 had detective eyes 94 children, 

36 had detective ears 14 children. 



e., 43 per cent, had tonsils removed, 
e., 40 per cent, had adenoids removed, 
e., 74 per cent, had teeth corrected, 
e., 62 per cent, had improved, 
i. e., 38 per cent, had improved. 



89 had defective nose 26 children, i. e., 29 per cent, had improved. 

CONDITION ON ADMISSION. CONDITION OX DISCHARGE. 

Of 620 open-air school children from 
different cities — 

175 had diseased tonsils 73 children, i. e., 48 per cent, had tonsils removed. 

131 had adenoids 73 children, i. e., 56 per cent, had adenoids removed. 

347 had decayed teeth 190 children, i. e., 54 per cent, had teeth corrected. 

97 had defective eyes 58 children, i. e., 60 per cent, had improved. 

11 had defective ears 5 children, i. e., 45 per cent, had improved. 

3 had defective nose 1 child, i. e., 33 per cent, had improved. 

In addition to the above ttiere were 308 otlier minor defects, of wliich 2.55 
were improved on discliarge. 

The following table shows the results of haemoglobin tests applied 
to children in open-air schools at the beginning and end of school 
year 1913-14. The Tallquist test was used : 

Of 434 Chicago open-air school children — 

295, or 68 per cent, gained an average of 8 to 9 points. 
15, or 3 per cent, lost. 
124, or 29 per cent, remained the same. 
Of 227 open-air school children from different cities — 

181, or 79 per cent, gained an average of 7 to 8 points. 
8, or 4 per. cent, lost. 
38, or 17 per cent, remained the same. 

Answers to the questionnaire on the points covering cleanliness, 
ventilation, regularity of meals, hours of retiring, etc., were incom- 
plete and unsatisfactory. However, they Avere fairly well covered 
in the case of 154 families representing 210 children in four of the 
Chicago open-air schools. In these schools the nurses gave special 
attention to cooperation with the home, and the results show that 
there is a fruitful field for effort in this line. It should be under- 
stood, however, that the same results were often secured in other 
open-air schools, because everywhere there is more or less direct effort 
on the part of teachers, physicians, nurses, and others connected with 
the school to secure the hearty cooperation of the home. 

When the children entered, 118, or 76.6 per cent, of the 154 families 
represented kept their homes passably clean. On discharge this 
number had arisen to 148 families, or to 96 per cent. Similarly, 96 
families, or 62.3 per cent of the total, had. when the children were 
admitted, satisfactory provisions for ventilation, but at the close of 
the year this number had been increased to 152 families, or all but 2. 



224 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Only 94 of the 210 children were supplied in the beginning with 
regular meals at home. At the close this number had been increased 
to 186. Again, when the children first entered, only 85 of them went 
to bed before 9 o'clock in the evening, but at the close of the year's 
work this number had been increased to 174. On admission 160 of 
the children, all tubercular, were compelled to share their beds with 
others. On discharge this number had been reduced to 118. 

The home conditions of open-air school children have been more 
fully dealt with in the chapter on social and economic conditions. 

Inadequate income, overcrowding, and lack of conveniences are 
definite and serious handicaps. However, it is possible in most of 
these homes to make certain improvements, and even the most dis- 
couraged families have responded to resourceful efforts of nurses, 
teachers, and others to improve conditions. Some of the families 
have been moved to better quarters, back porches have been made into 
sleeping rooms, tents put up in back yards, cots purchased to give 
the child a bed to himself, diets secured, instruction given on the 
preparation of food, hours of retiring, and regularity of meals, and 
many other definite services of this kind have been rendered. Few 
people habitually do the best they can, and when an interested and 
enlightened person enters such homes and makes the welfare of the 
little child the point of interest and contact, and when real help, not 
merely good natured but impractical advice, is offered, a great change 
may take place. 

GAINS IN WEIGHT. 

Gain in weight is perhaps the best single index of a child's physical 
progress and condition. In discussing this phase of the subject it is 
desirable to have an established norm. 

For the sake of comparison two tables have been used : First, that 
published by Dr. L. Emmett Holt in The Diseases of Infancy and 
Childhood, 1912 (p. 20). This table is based on a study by Dr. 
Bowditch of 4,327 boys and 3,681 girls in the Boston public schools. 
These were normal average children of American parentage. The 
children were weighed with their clothing on. INIost of the children 
in open-air schools are weighed stripped. The second table was 
compiled by the Board of Education of Chicago and was the result of 
a study of 2,788 Chicago schoolboys and 3,471 Chicago schoolgirls. 
This study was published in Child Study Report No. 2 (pp. 12 ff.), 
1900. These children were also weighed with their clothing on. 
The investigation covered all the children in certain schools, and 
therefore included many anemic and undernourished children. No 
racial distinction was made. This is one explanation for the differ- 
ences between the two tables. 



EESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



225 



In order to arrive at the net weight of children, the Chicago Board 
of Education made careful computations as to the weight of clothing 
b}'^ age and sex. It found that the average weight for boj's' clothing 
was 5.8 per cent of the gross weight ; that of the girls' 5.2 per cent 
of the gi'oss weight. 

The following tables give Holt's standard and the Chicago Board 
of Education standard of weights by age and sex. The columns 
headed " Gross weight " are, respectively, Holt's standard and the 
board of education standard. The figures in the net-weight col- 
umns are obtained by deducting 5.8 per cent of the gross weight of 
the boys and 5.2 per cent of the girls. The net yearly gain is 
obtained by comparing the net weights on admission and on discharge. 

A table gives the weight of clothing by age and sex and is obtained 
by applying the Chicago Board of Education standard of 5.8 per 
cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively, for boys and girls to the gross 
weights given by Holt and the Chicago Board of Education. 

Knnnnl weight, in pounds, for hoi/s. 



Ages. 



5. 

fi. 

s! 

9. 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
IB 



Holt's standard. 


Chicago Board of Education ' 
standard. 




Net 


Net 




Net 


Net 


Gross 


weight 


yearly 


Gross 


weight 


yearly 


weight 


(r).8 per 


gam 


weight 


(5.8 per 


gain 


(clothing 


cent gross 


(same 


(clothing 


cent gross 


(same 


included). 


weight 


percentage 


included). 


weight 


percentage 




deducted). 


deducted). 




deducted). 


deducted). 


41.2 


38.8 
42.5 
46.6 










45.1 


3.7 
4.1 


43.52 
47.66 


41.00 
44.90 




49.5 


3.90 


64.5 


51.3 


4.7 


52.52 


49.47 


4.57 


60.0 


56.5 


5.2 


58.07 


54.70 


5.23 


66.6 


62.7 


6.2 


63.30 


59.63 


4.93 


72.4 


68.2 


5.5 


68.85 


64.86 


5.23 


79.8 


75.2 


7.0 


75.30 


71.93 


7.07 


88. .3 


83.2 


8.0 


83.98 


79.11 


7.18 


99.3 


93.5 


10.3 


94.14 


88. 68 


0.75 


110. 8 


104.4 


10.9 


105. 82 


99. 68 


11.00 


123.7 


116.5 


12.1 


117.39 


no. 58 


10.00 



Xornml ireiffJit, in pounds, for girls. 



Ages. 



Holt's standard. 


Chicago 


Board of Education 
standard. 




Net 


Net 




Net 


Net 


Gross 


weight 


yearly 


Gross 


weight 


yearly 


weight 


(5.2 per 


gam 


weight 


(5.2 per 


gam 


(clothing 


cent gross 


(same 


(clothing 


cent gross 


(same 


included). 


weight 


percentage 


included). 


weight 


percentage 




deducted). 


deducted). 




deducted). 


deducted). 


39.8 


37.7 
41.5 
45.5 


! 


43.8 


3.8 
4.0 


41.61 
46.25 


39.45 
43.85 




48.0 


4.40 


52.9 


50.1 


4.6 


50.74 


48.10 


4.25 


57.5 


54.5 


4.4 


55.69 


52.79 


4.69 


64.1 


60.3 


6.3 


61.29 


58.10 


5.31 


70.3 


66.8 


6.0 


67.61 


64.09 


5.99 


81.4 


77.2 


10.4 


75.79 


71.86 


t. i t 


91.2 


86.5 


9.3 


85.94 


81.57 


9.71 


100.3 


95.1 


8.6 


97.50 


92.43 


10.86 


108.4 


102.9 


7.8 


106.19 


100.69 


8.86 


113.0 


107.1 


4.2 


111.69 


105. 88 


5.18 



97855°— Bull. 23—17- 



-15 



226 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Weight, in pounds, of clothing. 





Boys. 


Girls. 


Ages. 


Holt. 


Board of 
Education. 


Holt. 


Board of 
Education. 


5 






2.1 
2.3 
2.5 
2.8 
3.0 
3.3 
3.7 
4.2 
4.7 
5.2 
5.5 
5.9 




6 


2.6 
2.9 
3.2 
3.5 
3.9 
4.2 
4.6 
5.1 
5.8 
0.4 
7.2 


2.52 
2.76 
3.05 
3.37 
3.67 
3.99 
4.37 
4.87 
5.46 
6.14 
6.81 


2 16 


7 


2 40 


8 


2 64 


9 


2 90 


10 


3.19 


11 


3 52 


12 


3.93 


13 


4 47 


14 


5.07 


15 . 


5 51 


16 


5.81 







As noted elsewhere, the average gain in weight for all of the Chicago 
open-air school children was 4.95 pounds, and the average gain for 
the children in open-air schools in other cities, 4.73 pounds. In 
order to loiow whether gains in weight are significant, they should 
be studied by age and sex and should be compared with established 
norms for children of the same age and sex. Gains in weight stated 
as isolated facts may mislead the person who deals with the figures. 
They often sound large, when perhaps they are below what the child 
should have gained in a given period. Rapid gains in weight in the 
early weeks or months in an open-air school are likely to be obtained, 
especially where meals are served as a part of the plan of the school. 

Studies of gains in weight in Chicago open-air and open- window 
schools are indicated in the tables following. Thej give the weight 
on admission, the year's gain, and the percentage of gain of 109 
girls and 165 boys, who were in Chicago open-air and open- window 
schools the entire school year 1913-14, together with corresponding 
figures for pupils of the same age, according to the Chicago Board 
of Education standard and that of Holt. 



Percentage of gain in iveight made hy 169 girls and 165 boys in Chicago open-air 
schools the full school year 1913-lJt, compared with the percentage of gain in 
weight of children of the same age, as established in the standards by Holt 
and the Chicago Board of Education. 

GIRLS. 





Num- 
ber of 
pupils. 


Actual 
average 
weight 
at be- 
ginning 
of school 
year. 


Actual 
average 

gain 
during 
school 

year 
1913-14. 


Per 
cent of 
gain. 


Holt's standard. 


Board of Education. 


Ages. 


Normal 
weight. 


Normal 
gain. 


Per 

cent of 
gain. 


Normal 
weight. 


Normal 
gain. 


Per 
cent of 
gain. 


7 


4 
10 
27 
20 
28 
33 
21 
22 

4 


Pounds. 
43.9 
47.1 
50.7 
52.3 
55.8 
62.7 
72.0 
76.4 
77.5 


Pounds. 
2.4 
4.5 
4.4 
4.4 
5.5 
6.5 
10.2 
8.5 
5.2 


Per cent. 
5.5 
9.5 
8.7 
8.4 
9.9 
10.4 
14.2 
11.1 
6.7 


Pounds. 
41.5 
45.5 
50.1 
54.5 
60. 8 
66. S 
77.2 
86.5 
95. 1 


Pounds. 
4.0 
4.6 
4.4 
6.3 
6.0 
10.4 
9.3 
8.6 
7.8 


Per cent. 

9.6 
10.1 

8.8 
11.6 

9.9 
15.6 
12.0 

9.9 

8.2 


Pounds. 
39.5 
43.8 
48.1 
52.8 
58.1 
64.1 
71.9 
81.5 
91.8 


Pounds. 
4.4 
4.3 
4.7 
5.3 
6.0 
7.8 
9.7 
10.9 
8.9 


Percent. 
11.1 


8 


9.8 


9.. 


9.8 


10 


10.0 


11 


10.3 


12 


12.2 


13 


13.5 


14.. . 


13.4 


15 


9.7 







RESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



227 



Percentage of gain in tceight made hy 1G9 girls and 165 boys in Chicago open-air 
schools the fnll school year 1913-l.'f, compared with the percentage of gain in 
tceight of children of the same age, as established in the standards hy Holt 
and the Chicago Board of Education — Continued. 



BOYS. 





Num- 
ber of 
pupils. 


Actual 
average 
weight 

at be- 
ginning 

of 
school 

year. 


Actual 
average 

gain 
during 
school 

year 
1913-14. 


Per 
cent of 
gain. 


Holt's standard. 


Board of Education. 


Ages. 


Normal 
weight. 


Normal 
gain. 


Per 

cent of 

gain. 


Normal 
weight. 


Normal 
gain. 


Per 

cent of 

gain. 


7 


6 
13 
21 
24 

28 
18 
29 
14 
9 
3 


Pounds. 
41.1 
46.9 
49.9 
58.3 
59.7 
63.4 
69.4 
72.1 
79.9 
67.6 


Pounds. 
3.7 
2.9 
3.7 
4.1 
5.0 
6.1 
7.0 
9.1 
10.8 
5.2 


Percent. 

9.0 

6.2 

7.4 

7.0 

8.4 

9.6 

10.1 

11.2 

13.5 

7.7 


Pounds. 
42.5 
46.6 
51.3 
56.5 
62.7 
68.2 
75.2 
83.2 
93.5 
104.4 


Pounds. 
4.1 
4.7 
5.2 
6.2 
5.5 
7.0 
8.0 
10.3 
10.9 
12.1 


Per cent. 

9.6 
10.1 
10.1 
11.0 

8.8 
10.3 
10.6 
12.4 
11.6 
11.6 


Pounds. 
41.0 
44.9 
49.5 
54.7 
59.7 
64.8 
71.9 
79.0 
88.7 
99.7 


Pounds. 
3.9 
4.6 
5.2 
4.9 
5.2 
7.1 
7.2 
9.7 
11.0 
10 9 


Percent. 
9 5 


8 


10 2 


9... 


10 5 


10 


8 9 


11 


8 7 


12.... 


10 9 


13 


10 


14 

15.. .. 


12.3 
12 4 


16 


10 9 









Perhiii:)S the only comment to be made here is that the large gains 
in weight made during adolescent growth occur a jenr or more later 
with the open-air school children than with those indicated in the 
other standards. 

Weight of same girls and boys at the close of the school year 1913-14 com- 
pared icith the standard set by Holt and the Chicago Board of Education for 
pupils of the same age. 

GIRLS. 



Ages. 



7. 
8. 
9. 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 




Normal weights ac- 
cording to — 



Holt. 



Chicago 
Board of 
Educa- 
tion. 



unds. 


Pounds. 


45.5 


43.9 


50.1 


48.1 


54.5 


52.8 


60.8 


58.1 


66.8 


64.1 


77.2 


71.9 


86.5 


81.6 


9-,.l 


92.4 


102.9 


100.7 



BOYS. 



8.. 
9.. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 



6 


44.8 


46.6 


13 


49.9 


51.3 


21 


53.6 


56.5 


24 


62.4 


62.7 


28 


64.7 


68.2 


18 


69.5 


75.2 


29 


76.4 


83.2 


14 


81.2 


93.5 


9 


90.7 


104.4 


3 


72.8 


116.5 



44.9 
49.5 
54.7 
59.6 
64.9 
71.9 
79.1 
88.7 
99.7 
110.6 



228 ' OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

It will be recalled, that the average gain for the Chicago children 
was a little larger than the average for the combined number of 
children reported from other cities. In considering these tables the 
phj'^sical condition of these children should constantly be borne in 
mind. The figures for the Chicago children, as well as the children 
from other cities, covered only the 10 months' school year. The 
figures given by Holt and the Chicago Board of Education are for 
a full year. In the case of 60 Chicago children who were in the open- 
air schools two full school years, there was a slight increase in weight 
during the summer months. Of the 60 children, 30 gained, 27 lost, 
and 3 remained the same. It resulted in an average increase of 
twenty-two one-hundredths of a pound for the whole group. With 
one exception the schools studied were in session only five days a 
week, and most of them only the usual school hours. In most in- 
stances there were two meals a day at the school. In the Chicago 
schools the food values average 1,100 calories per pupil per day. It 
is the experience in the Chicago open-air schools that children lose 
in weight Saturdays and Sundays and on holiday vacations. 

In this connection there are presented herewith certain data on 
the increase in weight of children in open-air schools in England, 
which are taken from the report of the school medical officer on open- 
air schools to the education committee of the London Count}'' Council, 
March, 1913. The tables give results obtained with 93 children who 
were in the Birley House open-air school in the school year 1911-12. 
These children were admitted to the school by the examining medical 
officer on account of the following conditions : 

Malnutrition and general poor physique 30 

Family history of or signs suggesting phthisis 22 

Phthisis 19 

Anemia '■ — 9 

Chest conditions (nontubercular) 4 

Enlargement of glands 5 

Other conditions 4 

The following table shows the average weight (expressed in kilo- 
grams) of these children, by ages, on admission to the Birley House 
school, compared with the corresponding averages of all London 
elementary school children. (A kilogram equals a little more than 
2.2 pounds.) 



RESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



229 



Birley House school children compared with all London elementary school 
children as to average wciyht. 



Boys. 



Girls. 



Age last birthday. 



7. 
8. 
9- 
10 
11 
12 
13 



Birley 

House 

children. 



Average 
weight 
on ad- 
mission. 



£■170- 
grams. 
22.57 
22.32 
23.78 
26.77 
28.62 
34.26 
33.13 



Average 
weight 
of all 

L. C. C. 
school 
boys. 



Age last birthday. 



Kilo- 
grams. 
(') 

23.47 
25.46 
27.59 
29.25 
32.46 
36.40 



10 
11 
12 
13 



Number 
of chil- 
dren. 



Average 
weight 
on ad- 
mission. 



Kilo- 
grams. 
20.70 
19.10 
23.10 

26. :i5 

27. SO 

28. !S1 
35.30 



Average 

of all 
L. C. C. 

school 
boys. 



Kilo- 
grams. 



22.92 
25.00 
27.16 
29.87 
33.32 
37.71 



' Not recorded. 

It will be noted that in every instance the open-air school children 
on admission were below the average weights of " all London County 
Council school children." 

The next table shows the average gain in weight in kilograms in 
each age group during the 40 weeks covered by the study, compared 
with the corresponding averages of all London elementary school 
children. 



Birley House school children compared with all London elementary school 
children as to average gain in weight. 



Boys. 


Girls. 


Age last birthday. 


Birley 

House 

children. 


Average 

gain in 

40 weeks. 


Average 

gain in 

standard 

boys. 


Age last birthday. 


Number 

of 
children. 


Average 
gain in 
40 weeks. 


Average 

gain in 

standard 

girls. 




4 
4 
7 
7 
U 
11 
3 


Kilo- 
grams. 
2.7 
1.7 
2.2 
2.7 
2.7 
3.8 
4.3 


^270- 

grams. 

1.56 
1.78 
1.78 
2.33 
2.89 
2.67 


7 


1 

4 
9 
7 
7 
8 
2 


Kilo- 
grams. 
1.5 
3.9 
2.9 
3.4 
3.5 
4.2 
4.9 


Kilo- 
grams. 

(1) 


8 


8 


1.67 


9 


9 


1.89 


10 


10 


2.42 


11 


11 


2.89 


12 


12 


3.33 


13 


13 


3.67 









1 Not recorded. 



The same report gives another table which shows the average 
weekly gain in weight in kilograms at various ages comi)ared with 
the corresponding average weekly gain of all London elementary 
school children. 



230 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Birley House children compared with all London elementary school children, as 
to average weekly gain in weight. 



Boys. 


r.irls. 


Age last birthday. 


Birley 

House 

children. 


Average 

weekly 

gain. 


Average 

weekly 

gain in 

standard 

boys. 


Age last birthday. 


Birley 

House 

children. 


Average 

weekly 

gain. 


Average 

weekly 

gain in 

standard 

girls. 


7 


4 
4 
7 
7 
11 
11 
13 


Kilo- 
grams. 
0.07 
.04 
.05 
.07 
.07 
.10 
.11 


Kilo- 
grams. 


7 

8 

9 


1 

4 
9 
7 
7 
8 
2 


Kilo- 
grams. 
0.04 
.10 
.07 
.08 
.09 
.10 
.13 


Kilo- 
grams. 


8 


0.04 
.04 
.04 
.08 
.07 
.07 


0.04 


9 


.05 


10 


10...; 

11 

12 

13 


.06 


11 


.07 


12 

13 


.08 
.09 







The Birley House school was in session six days a week, from 9 
o'clock in the morning until 6 in the afternoon. The children were 
given three meals a day at this school. 

A haemoglobin test was also made of these children. Quoting 
again from the report of the medical officer of the London County 
Council : 

Some measure of improved conditions of bodily health is afforded bj' the 
estimations of the haemoglobin content of the blood ; the summary of these 
(made with Tallquist's scale) is set out in the table below, 100 being taken 
as normal. 

Haemoglobin averages at Birley House, 1912. 



Occasions. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


At opening of school 


1 
86.6 
89.1 
91.8 


85.3 


At end of 24 weeks 


88.7 




90.7 







It may be of interest to compare the gains in weight of the Birley 
House open-air school with those of Chicago open-air school chil- 
dren. The following table gives such a comparison by age and sex 
between 85 Birley House school children and 334 Chicago open-air 
school children : 

Coiiiparison of gains in tveight between Chicago open-air school children and 
children of the Birley House open-air school, London, England. 



■R„,„ Average gain in 40 
"°y^- . weeks. 


Girls. 


Average gain in 40 
weeks. 


Ages. Chicago. 


Birley 
House. 


Chicago. 


Birley 
House. 


Ages. 


Chicago. 


Birley 
House. 


Chicago. 


Birley 
House. 


7 


6 
13 
21 
24 

28 
18 
29 


4 

4 
7 
7 
11 
11 


3.7 


5.94 


7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

J2 

1^^ 


4 

10 
27 
20 
28 
33 
21 


1 
4 
9 
7 
7 
8 
2 


2.4 
4.5 
4.4 
4.4 
5.5 
6.5 
10.2 


3.30 


8 


2.9 .^."4 


8.58 


9 

10 

11 

12 


3.7 
4.1 
5.0 
6.1 
7.0 


4.84 
5.94 
5.94 
8.36 
9.46 


6.3S 
7.48 
7.70 
9.24 
10.78 



RESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



231 



The above tables show that in every instance the gains of children 
in the Birley House school, England, were greater than those of the 
Chicago children. The discrepancy in numbers should be borne in 
mind — 334 Chicago children compared with 85 in the Birley House 
school. 

Again, the Birley House school was in session six days a week 
and from about 8.30 in the morning until 6 o'clock in the evening. 
Three meals a day Avere served in the Birley House school and two 
in the Chicago schools. The one day extra a week gave the Birle}^ 
House school children 40 extra days. 

As has been stated, it is the experience in the Chicago schools that 
children lose in weight over week ends and on holidays. A perusal 
of records in general seems to indicate the desirability of a six-days 
school Aveek for open-air school children. In some of the foreign 
schools the children are in the school seven days a Aveek. 

In the report of the school medical officer of Bradford, England, 
for the year 1912 (p. 45) is another interesting table showing the 
average gain in weight, height, haemoglobin, chest measurement, and 
average duration of attendance at Bradford (England) open-air 
school.^ 

Showing the average gain in xveight, height, haemoglobin, chest measurement, 
and the average duration of attendance of children at the open-air school. 



Diseases. 



Phthisis: 

Boys 

Girls 

other tubercular diseases: 

Boys 

Girls 

Anemia: 

Bovs 

Girls 

Bronchitis and other chest diseases 

Boys 

Girls 

Heart disease: 

Boys 

Girls 

Chorea: 

Bovs 

Girls 

Rickets: 

Bovs 

Girls 

other diseases: 

Bovs 

Girls 

Average 



Children. 



'538 



Weight 
(kilo- 
grams). 



2.93 
2.44 



1.94 
2.29 



1.63 
2.31 



1.62 
1.77 



2.32 
2.51 



L72 
2.50 



1.83 
3.35 



1.47 
l.SO 



Height 
(centi- 
meters). 



4.23 
3.01 



3.16 
4.15 



2.04 

2.88 



2.14 
3.03 



3.37 
3.06 



22.00 

2.81 



1.70 
4.20 



2.36 
2.75 



Hgemo- 
globtn. 



23.62 
21.76 



19.20 

24.78 



22.44 
23.48 



22.00 
24.75 



26. .50 
19.40 



20. 75 
21.80 



28.00 
29.50 



20.00 
27. 16 



Chest 
measure- 
ment (in 
inches). 



1.14 
1.22 



1..50 
1.30 



.80 
1.20 



1.80 
.81 



.75 
1.10 



1.33 



1.22 
1.33 



2.93 



21.57 



Average 
stay (in 
months). 



6.56 
7.00 



4.99 
7.13 



3.92 
5.01 



4.17 

5.48 



6.25 
4.67 



4.37 
4.05 



6.15 
6.12 



2.38 
3.86 



1 Total. 2 Equals ii pounds. 

A feature worthy of special comment in this table is the column 
giving the average length of stay for the different children. There 



1 Bradford, England, Education committee. Report of school medical officer, 1912, p. 45. 



232 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

is a widespread interest in the result of open-air school work, and 
these tables are given as examples where records have been kept. 
Thev emphasize features which should be kept in mind by those con- 
ducting open-air schools. Average gains are, in themselves, interest- 
ing, but to be valuable as guides they should be studied with reference 
to age and sex and compared with carefully established norms. 

SCHOLARSHIP. 

No effort was made to gather data with regard to geneial educa- 
tional results. In the city of Chicago, however, the Elizabeth Mc- 
Cormick Memorial Fund has made a study of the grade progress 
of 522 children who were in the Chicago open-air and open-window 
schools dm^ing the entire school year 1913-14. The grade of each 
pupil was recorded on admission to these schools in September, 1913. 
The following table is based on the grade marks given to the same 
children by the teachers at the close of school in June, 1914 : 

Grade progress of 522 children in Chicago open-air and open-ivindoto schools, 

school year 1913-l.'i. 



Number of children. 


Grades 
made in 

school 

year 

1913-14. 


1 


3 
2 

'^ 



12 ; 


9 


3S7 


113 





The progress of these same children prior to their attendance in 
the open-air school is shown in the next table. Nine of these chil- 
dren entered the school during school year 1913-14 and were elim- 
inated from the following study. Of the 522 children 25 had not 
completed a grade at the end of the school year 1912-13 and were 
not included. The table, therefore, concerns 488 of the 522 children. 

The results shown in the table were arrived at as follows: The 
age of all the pupils was taken at the beginning of the school year 
1913, as was also the number of grades completed by each child up 
to that date. These were known quantities. Second, the table as- 
sumes that, according to the usual standards, each child entered 
school in his seventh year ; that he continued in school regularly, and 
that he should have made one grade each year. A table based on the 
above facts and assumptions follows: 



EESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



23: 



Average length of time required per grade for 488 children previous to attend- 
ance in open-air schools. 



Number of children. 


Total 
number 
of years 
in school. 


Number 
of grades 
com- 
pleted. 


Average 
number 
of years 
to make 
grade. 




7 

8 

5 

15 

16 

5 

337 

56 

35 

180 

135 

18 

156 

91 

10 

204 

8 

140 

133 

9 

304 

42 

66 

16 

78 

14 

36 

25 

6 

14 


14 

12 

7 

20 

20 

6 

337 

49 

30 

150 

108 

14 

117 

65 

7 

136 

5 

84 

76 

152 

18 

24 

6 

26 

4 

9 

5 

1 

2 


0.50 


4 


.07 


1 


.71 


5 


. lO 


4 


.SO 


1 


.83 


107 


1.00 


7 


1.14 


5 . 


1.16 


30 


1.20 


27 


1.25 


2 


1.28 


30.. 


1..33 


13 


1.40 


1 


1.42 


51 . 


1.50 


1 


1.60 


28... 


1.67 


19 


1.75 


1.. 


1.80 


79 


2.00 




2. .33 


12... 


2.50 




2.67 


20.. 


3.00 




3. .50 


9 


4.00 




5.(X) 


1 


6.00 




7.00 


4S8 





Tliis table shows that previous to entering the open-air school 129 
children made a grade in a year or less ; that 339 averaged more than 
one year to a grade. In the open-air school 409 made a grade in a 
year or less and 113 failed to make a grade in their year in the 
open-air school. We call attention again to the assumptions on 
which the table is based, also to the fact that there were 522 children 
in the first table and 488 in the second. We realize that it is too 
much to assume that previous to the admission to the open-air school 
all the children went regularly. The study is offered more as a sug- 
gestion and to stimulate interest and further study than as presenting 
anything final on the subject. It raises the interesting question also 
as to how many years a child should spend in a grade without attract- 
ing attention and receiving such care as he needs. 

Another study was made by the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial 
Fund of the children in the open-air schools in the school year 1911- 
12. The school progress of 151 children in the open-air schools in 
Chicago in that year was compared with the scholarship of the 
same children in the regular schools for the school year 1910-11. 
These figures were taken from the grade marks as given by the 



234 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

teachers. The marks for the 151 children were averaged and were 
as follows: 

Average scholarship of 151 children in open-window rooms, school year 

1911-12 84. 54 

Average scholarship of same 151 children in regular schools, school year 

1910-11 74.43 

Average gain in scholarship in open-window rooms 10. 17 

One hundred and fonr of the 151 children improved in scholarship. 

Thirteen of the 151 children lost. 

Thirty-four of the 151 children remained the same. 

In the report of the Rochester (N. Y.) Public Health Association 
for 1911-13, page 257, the results of scholarship in the Rochester 
open-air schools are given as follows : Of 149 children in attendance, 
111 made usual grade progress; 14 made more rapid progress, 
and 12 less rapid progress than is customary in the regular school. 
The Ethical Culture School of New York City, in its prospectus of 
1914, states that the majority of children have accomplished as much 
work in the promotion subjects as those in .corresponding grades 
indoors. The South Manchester (Conn.) open-air school for 1913 
reports that 3 children have done almost two years' work in one, 
12 have completed 1 year's work in one year, and 3 are not doing 
much of anything, being extremely nervous; 4 have just entered. 
The educational club of South Manchester, Conn., in its report for 
1913-14, reports that the children in their open-air school range 
from 6 to 15 years, and in grades from one to eight. Of 22 children 
in school at that time, 11 completed a year's work in a year's time. 
Of this number 3 were called " slow " and had repeated one or more 
grades previous to entering the open-air school. Four pupils did a 
year's work in 30 weeks; 3 of these were repeaters from the year 
before. Of the remaining Y all were in poor physical condition. 
Three failed to make a grade in a year, 1 was withdrawn, and the 
other 2 are not recorded. These are fair samples of the comments 
and records of open-air schools. 

ATTENDANCE. 

In the matter of attendance a number of studies have been made 
comparing attendance in open-air schools with that of closed-window 
rooms in the same city and for children of as near the same physical, 
social, and economic conditions as could be chosen. The open- 
window rooms usually show a better percentage of attendance. In 
the report of the health officer of the District of Columbia, for 1911, 
page 22, is this statement : " The number of days lost from illness in 
outdoor schools since the first examination is 60, while the indoor 
school was 161, average loss per pupil in outdoor school 2.40 days, 
for the indoor 4.79." The annual report for 1911-12, of the Civic 



EESULTS OF OPEN-AIll SCHOOLS. 235 

Club of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pa., page 27, showed a record 
of absences for a 20-day period in March, 1912, in a roof school and 
in a primary room in one of the nearest public schools. Attendance 
in the open-air school Avas almost 2 per cent higher than that in the 
closed schoolroom. While something like 14 of the closed-room 
pupils were absent because of sick 'headaches, indigestion, sore 
throats, etc., not one of the children was out of the open-air school 
for such a cause. 

The attendance record of 127 children in the Chicago open-air and 
open-window schools for the year 1911-12 was studied. Some of 
the records were incomplete and in such cases the children were not 
included in the study. Complete records were secured for 92 chil- 
dren. The comparison was made with the attendance of the same 
children in the regular schools for a corresponding period, both as 
to duration and time of year, next preceding their admission to the 
open-air schools. Of the 92 children, 61, or 66.3 per cent, showed a 
better record of attendance ; 10, or 10.8 per cent, remained the same ; 
21, or 22.8 per cent, lost in percentage of attendance. 

Contagious and infectious diseases are often important factors in 
school attendance. The absence of such diseases in open-air schools 
is a matter of frequent comment in open-air school reports. In 
Philadel]ohia the Christian Street open-air school reported that dur- 
ing the first 10 months of open-air school work no case of contagious 
diseases occurred among the children. Only two were absent on ac- 
count of illness. Mrs. Ellenore Comstock Robertson's private open- 
air school, Syracuse, N. Y., in the report of December, 1913, says: 
" Since opening October 1, 1912, we have had no spread of con- 
tagious disease, although we have had among our pupils two cases 
of chicken pox, one of mumps, and one of whooping cough cauglit 
from brothers and sisters at home. Although our children have had 
colds, they do not seem to spread from one to another." The Ethical 
Culture School of New York, in its prospectus of 1914, says : " The 
health of most of the children has improved in rather a marked de- 
gree. Several children, who previous to entering had shown a 
tendency to take cold very easily, have overcome this weakness in a 
way which has delighted their parents. Even more remarkable has 
been the complete disappearance in a number of cases of nervous 
habits observable in every ordinary classroom, choreic s3^mptoms, 
tendency to stutter when excited, etc." The open-air school at 
Springfield, Mass., reports an attendance record for the school year 
1912-13 of 98.2 per cent. The principal says: "We have some chil- 
dren who are just beginning to know what it is to be regular in 
school attendance." E. L. Garling, superintendent of Maitland 
Sanitarium, Peppard Common, Oxon, England, says in report of 
February, 1914 : " Our record of school attendance is very good, as 



236 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

we have been remarkably free from minor ailments and casualties. 
The open-air life seems to promote a regular level of healthfulness 
Avhich renders even so-called invalid children more capable of regu- 
lar school attendance than normal children." 

EXPERIENCE OF TEACHERS. 

The reaction of open-air school work upon the teachers is inter- 
esting. The smaller number of children gives a greater oppor- 
tunity for individual work and for a more intimate acquaintance 
with the child himself. This fact alone has great significance. 
The mass dealing with children may prevent really knowing the 
individual child at all. The more original and less formal methods 
possible in an open-air school, on account of small numbers, also 
are an aid to the teacher. She meets the child at more points of 
contact and more nearly on the child's own terms. The teacher 
has these and other advantages in addition to that of fresh air, 
which is as necessary to working efficiency as steam is to an engine. 
A teacher in Montclair, N. J., stated that she would agree to teach 
the children the same amount in the open air in one-third the time 
that would be required in a closed, heated room. 

In London, England, in the Botanical Gardens open-air school, 
one teacher is quoted in The Child, of March, 1914, page 443, as 
saying that she had fewer headaches in the open-air schools. 
Another that she had been in better health in the open-air school 
than ever before. Both said they had not felt the cold at all. One 
said, "I would never teach in a closed room if I could help it; 
there is less nerve strain out of doors, both for the teachers and 
children; the fidgetiness and inattention which often arise from 
a badly ventilated room do not occur." In the annual report of 
the board of education. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1912, page 21, is a 
quotation from the principal of the open-air school : 

To see children change in a few weelvs from listless, drowsy, slow, gaping, 
lazy, snuffling children, whose special role is a habit of failure, into children 
with an air of superiority and confidence, and whose new role is a habit of 
success, has startled some of us into thinking. * * * The law requires 
pupils to attend schools where the amount of oxygen is decreased, and also 
where the air is stagnant, overheated, too dry, impregnated with bad odors, 
and often laden with dust and bacteria. They are expected to do brain work, 
an essential condition of which is an adequate supply of oxygen. From the 
point of view of school hygiene, the qiiestion is raised why normal children 
sliould not be permitted the supply of oxygen that is an essential condition of 
the work required of them as well as children who are ill. 

The following comments are from open-air school teachers in the 
cities indicated : 

Providence, R. I. — I would not care to return to the closed room. IMy pleasui'e 
in my woi'k makes me wish that, for the sake of the teacher as well as the 
pupil, every schoolroom might be an open-air room. 



RESULTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 237 

Boston, Mass. — For a score or more years my experience as a teacher has 
been gained in the public schools of this country, in good old New England, 
California, and the IMiddle West. Our teachers to-day are victims of nervous- 
ness, irritability, and so-called overwork. Those who have tried the outdoor 
work Ivive been capable of more prolonged labor with far less fatigue. This 
is my own testimony, and nearly all associate teachers who have given it a 
fair trial feel there is no school for them like the open-air school. 

Chicago, III. — Fresh air has done wonders for me. I am strong and fat and 
have gained 10 pounds since last year in spite of seven weeks' work in the 
summer. My complexion has imdergone a complete change. Instead of being 
a sallow, dead, dry-skinned person, my skin is fresh, full of life, and rosy. 

Chicago, III. — I have never in my life been so free from backache and 
extreme fatigue as I have been since I took the open-air school. " How do 
you keep so fresh?" asked another teacher last night. "I am always nervously 
exhausted after a dark, rainy day like this." I told her truthfully that I had 
ceased to dread such days. Not even rain can dispel the sunshine in the 
open-air school. 

EFFECTS ON INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN. 

The effort has been in this chapter to give some indication of 
results obtained in open-air school work. It has been necessary to 
deal with the children in groups and by averages ; however, the small 
army of debilitated children in the open-air schools and the vastly 
larger numbers of the same kind of children not yet properly cared 
for, like every other army, is resolvable into individual units. Some- 
body is especially interested in each child. It would be interesting to 
narrate the individual stories of these open-air school pupils, for 
every story would have its own special appeal. This is strikingly 
true when proper nurture and care are given to children who pre- 
viously have not had opportunities and who have been prevented 
from making normal progress by reason of physical handicaps. 

A teacher in the Buffalo open-air school reports a girl of 12, whose 
mother brought the child to the school quite in despair on account of 
her daughter's nervous condition. The child was thin, undernour- 
ished, and anemic. She was nervous, discouraged, and often cried 
without any apparent cause. She had defective eyes and ears, and 
poor teeth. She was suffering from adenoids and hypertrophied 
tonsils, and was a mouth breather. She was admitted to the open-air 
school and in the year following gained 20 pounds, the anemia and 
malnutrition disappeared, her eyes were treated and made to function 
properly, her hearing was corrected, the adenoids and tonsils were 
removed and she was able to breathe normally and properly. She 
became ambitious, happy, and capable in every way. Her attendance 
was practically perfect. The child's happiness was fully equaled by 
that of the mother, who had not believed such a transformation 
possible. 

The superintendent of the open-air school at Grand Eapids reports 
the story of a little girl who was brought to his office by her mother, 



238 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

who declared that the child had not been able to attend school for 
more than two weeks at a time for years. She requested that the 
child be placed in the open-air school. The superintendent responded 
to her request and says that in the past year the child did not miss 
a day and besides that made three grades in one year, and gained 25 
pounds in weight. 

In the same school was a boy who was unable to remain in the 
climate of Grand Rapids the previous year and spent the cold months 
in Texas. His parents were planning to send him to Texas again, 
but decided to tr}^ the fresh-air school. The superintendent reports 
that he attended school regularly all winter and made good progress 
in his studies. 

The following story was told by one of the Chicago open-air school- 
boys in a little autobiography which he wrote for the Open- Air 
Smile, a monthly periodical which was started by the children of 
the Chicago open-air schools: 

I was born in a little gray house in a little country town near the city of 
Kiev. When I was 2 years old my downfall began. First I fell sick and 
had the scarlet fever, and as soon as I was cured of that I caught diphtheria, 
and after I was cured of that I caught pneumonia. I stayed in bed for a year 
and I never got out of bed for that long time. When I was 6 years old I 
came to America to the city of Chicago. Everybody had told us in Russia that 
gold was lying everywhere in the streets. I started to go to school at the 
Garfield School. Later, we moved to a different street, so I took a transfer to 
the Langland School, and later on we moved again, and then I came to the 
Goodrich School, which I attended a couple of years. When I was finally in the 
seventh grade I was sent out to Winfield tuberculosis camp. I stayed there 
six months, because I was charged with having tuberculosis. Those six months 
passed away so quickly that it seemed to me like six weeks. I think it was 
the happiest time of my life, staying out there. When I went home hardly any- 
body recognized me, because I was not the sick little fellow that I was when 
I went to Winfield, but a big, strong, and healthy boy with cheeks like roses. 
Later on I was put in the Foster open-air room, where I am now in the eighth 
grade. 

The stories of practically all the children in open-air schools are 
of tragic interest. In the great majority of cases the improvement 
is marked, and the response by the pupil is most gratifying, not only 
to the teachers and to the parents, but the children themselves are 
conscious of the change. 

The chief object of these schools has been to build up the health 
of children, in order that they may become more capable of assimi- 
lating and benefiting by the instructions given in the ordinary 
schools, and that they may thereby beocme better qualified for the 
duties of life. 

The material in this chapter gives some indication of the results 
that have accrued directly to the children and to the teachers. There 
has been an indirect effect upon the community itself and upon the 



RESULTS OF OPEX-AIK SCHOOLS. 239 

general school problem, for the open-air school, in addition to its 
direct ministry to the children involved, has become an educational 
laboratory where more natural and less formal methods have been 
used and where experiments and systems have been tried which are 
directed to the needs of children. A^lierever there is an open-air 
school will be found a group of people who are deeply interested in 
the school problem and who are determined that the public schools 
shall be as rich and fruitful as it is possible for the community to 
make them. They believe that it should be impossible for any pupil 
to sit through the seven or eight years required of every child, with 
his handicaps undiscovered and unrelieved and his school experience 
impaired or negatived by the presence of remediable defects. The 
immediate purpose of the open-air school will be realized only when 
all debilitated children now in the regular schools have a chance for 
fresh air, sufficient food, and a general hj^'gienic life. The ultimate 
purpose is to keep the children from getting sick and anemic by 
emphasizing the rights of all to a sanitary and wholesome life. 



240 



OPEN-ATR SCHOOLS. 






•rV* r.%^ 



^^v. 



*€«-"' '^ ' 










Fig. 104. — " The open-air smile." 



APPENDIXES. 



APPENDIX A. 

Social, economic, and hygienic conditions of 886 families of 1,062 open-air school 
pupils in 15 American cities. 





Families 
studied. 


Tuberculous 
families. 






Income. 






Housing. 












j3 




« 






























53 




o 




























9 


a 


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3 
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a 






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Cities. 


o 
a 

o 
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g 

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1 

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3 

i 

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a 

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a 

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3 

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3 

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d 


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60 


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3 

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3 


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03 


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(D 


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M 




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zi 




•z 


S 


^ 


<; 


^ 


i5 


<; 


fe 


:< 


H 


^ 


b* 


< 


< 


•a 


•A 


'A 


Chicago 


?.m 


2,342 


488 


6.16 


683 


389 


1.79 


29.1 


285 


1,784 


371 


$12,530.20 


S43.96 


$7.02 


375 


274 


101 


Cincinnati 


48 


24S 


50 


5. 20 


7 


1 


.15 


2.8 


35 


194 


36 


1,389.00 


36.83 


7.16 


43 


34 


9 


Cleveland 


87 
11 


587 
9$ 


123 
15 


6.70 
7 00 


75 


61 


.90 
60 


12.7 

8 •> 


53 


3.53 


68 


1,868.50 


35.26 


5.29 


84 
14 


6V 
9 


2/ 




5 


Minneapolis 


4fi 


277 


54 


6.00 


74 


51 


1.60 


26.7 


41 


247 


48 


1,740.40 


42.45 


7.04 


45 


14 


31 


Montclair 


14 


113 


14 


8.1(1 


6 


4 


.40 


5.3 


9 


65 


9 


289. 50 


32.17 


4.45 


13 


6 


V 


Newark 


45 


263 


45 


5.70 


22 


18 


.50 


7.8 


35 


201 


35 


1,891.25 


54.04 


9.41 


44 


31 


13 


New York 


76 

2n 


491 
101 


80 
24 


6.50 
5.10 


14 
12 


/ 
11 


.20 
.60 


2.8 
11.9 


72 
15 


527 

78 


76 
18 


3,819.10 
1,455.00 


53.04 
97.00 


7.24 
18.65 


76 
20 


75 
20 


1 


Oakland 




Pittsburgh 


18 
23 


107 
154 


18 
25 


6.30 
6.70 


21 
22 


8 
12 


1.20 
.90 


19.6 
14.0 


16 
21 


100 
142 


16 
23 


552.00 
723.00 


34.50 
34. 45 


6.52 
5.09 


18 
23 


13 

18 


5 


Pro\ddence 


5 




26 
39 


157 
191 


26 
45 


6.00 
5. 30 


21 
70 


12 

38 


.80 
1.90 


13 4 














26 
36 


8 
32 


18 


St. Louis 


36.6 


25 


135 


30 


i,i8i.65 


47.27 


8.75 


4 


Schenectady 


25 
25 


163 
128 


30 
25 


6.50 
5.10 


1 

17 


1 
15 


.04 

.70 


.6 
13.3 


20 
15 


127 

84 


23 
15 


1,714. .50 
746.00 


85. 73 
49.73 


13.50 

8.88 


25 
25 


13 
19 


12 


Springfield 


6 



9TS55'— BuM. 23—17- 



-16 



241 



242 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Social, economic, and hygienic conditions of 886 families of 1,062 open-air school 
pupils in 15 American cities — Continued. 





Rooms.. 


Bedrooms. 


Rent. 












P 








1 
o 


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Cities. 


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03 


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03 

1 


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03 
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3 
1 


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3 

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3 

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a 




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3 




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3 


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fl 


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Id 




3 


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0) 


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3 


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3 


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03 


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X 


H 


< 


^ 


&H 


'^, 


E^ 


< 


^1 


'^ 


H 


^ 


< 


■< 


Chicago 


860 


?, 9^f^ 


466 


1,663 


13 


?qo 


1,806 


378 


803 


2 2 


60 60 


307 


1 455 


$3,587.00 


$11.68 


!t2. 46 


Cincinnati 


47 
86 
14 
46 


242 

582 

98 

277 


49 
122 
15 

54 


155 

369 

45 

245 


1.6 
1.5 
2.2 
1.1 


47 
82 
13 
45 


24.^ 
562 
91 

274 


49 
116 
14 
53 


99 
236 
24 


2.5 
2.4 

3 8 


65.00 
63.00 
57.00 
,51.25 


43 

67 


■ 137 
301 


510. 00 
835.00 


11.86 
12.47 


3.72 


Cleveland 


2.74 


Louis\'ille 




Minneapolis 


124!2. 2 


39 


207 


525. 60 


13.46 


2.54 


Montolair 


14 
45 
76 


113 
263 
491 


14 
45 
80 


69 
213 

280 


1.6 
1.2 
1.8 


14 

45 

6 


113 
263 
40 


14 
45 
6 


44 2. 6 
119 2.2 

15 2. 7 


63.80 
56.63 
79.30 


10 
42 

68 


44 
198 
252 


125. 50 

533. 25 

1,044.00 


12.55 
12.70 
15.36 


2.85 


Newark . . . . . . 


2 69 


New York 


4.14 


Oakland 


19 
17 


98 
107 


23 
17 


129 

48 


.8 
2 9, 


17 
17 


88 
107 


21 

17 


59 1 - 5 


.52.00 

75 00 


5 
17 


28 
48 


75.00 
204.00 


15.00 
12.00 


2.68 


Pittsburgh 


36 


9 9 


4 25 


Providence 


23 

6 

34 

2F, 


154 
34 
182 
163 


25 

6 

40 

30 


120 
26 
113 
162 


1.3 

1.3 
1.7 
1.0 


23 

7 
27 
25 


154 
42 
132 
163 


25 

7 

31 

30 


69 
18 
53 
73 


2.2 
2.3 
2.5 
2.2 


57.50 
57.70 


21 


114 


217.00 


10.33 


1.90 


Rochester 




St. Louis 


63.00 


93 


71 

70 


226.85 
194.50 


9.86 
16.21 


3.20 


Schenectady 


44.851 12 


2.78 




25 


128 


25 


145 


.9 


25 


128 


25 


82 


1.6 


56.60 19 


103 


279.00 


14.68 


2.71 











APPENDIX B. 

ESTIMATED EXPENSE OF EQUIPPING AND MAINTAINING AN OPEN- 
WINDOW ROOM WITH FULL REGIME OF MEDICAL AND NURSING 
SERVICE, FEEDING, AND REST. 



(TWENTY-FIVE CHILDREN— SCHOOL YEAR 10 MONTHS.) 



FIRST YEAR. 

25 coats, at $4.00 $100. 00 

1 teacher's coat 10.00 

25 felt boots, at $1.35 33. 75 

Boots for teacher 1. 35 

25 cots, at $3 75.00 

25 sleeping blankets, 

at $3.85 96.25 

25 weighting aprons, 

at 25 cents 6. 25 

25 cot covers, at 20 

cents 5. 00 

25 pairs wool gloves, 

at 50 cents 12.50 

Gloves for teacher . 50 

Scales and measuring 

rod . 30. 00 

China and silver 20.00 

Kitchenware 30. 00 

Supplies 20. 00 

Thermometers and 

drugs 20. 00 

Laundry 12. 00 

Car fare 10.00 

Miscellaneous 10. 00 



8 window ventilators, at $3. 
Total equipment 



$340. 60 



100. 00 



52.00 
24.00 



FIRST YEAR — Continued. 

Service: 

Physician, at $50 

per mo $500. 00 

aiatron, at $40 

per mo 400. 00 



Food: 

Milk (f qt, at 9 
cents, per day 

per child) 337.50 

Bread 65. 00 

Meat 70. 00 

Groceries 115. 00 



$900. 00 



587. 50 



Total expense 1, 994. 10 



516. 60 



If the following equipment is 

not furnished by the board 

of education, the cost will 

be: 

Kitchen sink 15. 00 

Gas stove 25.00 

2 cupboards 80. 00 

2 kitchen tables 5.00 

2 dining-room tables 25. 00 

30 chairs, at $1 30. 00 



180. 00 



243 



244 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

(TWENTY-FIVE CHILDREN— SCHOOL YEAR 10 MONTHS)— Continued. 
SECOND YEAR. 

The suits should wear 3 to 4 years. 

The boots should wear 2 to 3 years. 

The gloves should wear 2 to 3 years. 

The cots should wear 5 years or more. 

Repairs ou suits $12. 50 

Repairs on boots, re- 
soling, at 60 cents- 15.00 

Repairs on cots 10. 00 

10 pairs gloves, at 50 

cents 5. 00 



Replenishing china 

and silver 10.00 

Replenishing kitchen- 
ware 10. 00 

Supplies (towels, nap- 
kins, etc.) 20.00 



$42. 50 



40.00 



Thermometers and 

drugs 20. 00 

Laundry 12. 00 

Car fare 10.00 

Miscellaneous 10. 00 



52.00 



Service for 10 months 900.00 

Food for 10 months 587.50 



Total expense for sec- 
ond year 1, 622. 00 



APPENDIX C. 
RECIPES FOR OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



The following recipes for the preparation of foods especially adapted to the 
needs of the open-air school children of Chicago were worked out by the matrons, 
in cooperation with the physicians, nurses, dietitians, and teachers. They are 
here inserted for the s^ihlance or help of those teachers who are working with, 
children of a similar type and under somewhat comparable conditions. Each 
recipe is designed to serve 30 children. 



SOUPS. 



Tomato and Lentil Soup. 



1^ lbs. lentils soaked over night. 
4 oz. bacon. 

4 oz. onions, fried in bacon drippings 
till nearly done. 

1 stalk celery. 

2 lbs. potatoes, cubed. 

1 lb. carrots. 

Boil lentils about 3 hours, add vege- 
tables and cook until done through. 
Add one can tomatoes. Season with 
salt, pepper, and small amount of vine- 
gar, to taste. 

Navy Bean Soup. 

2 lbs. navy beans. 
Knuckle of veal. 

2 small onions. 
Celery. 

Wash the beans and soak over night 
in cold water. In the morning put 
them on to boil, adding more water if 
necessary. Put in the knuckle of veal, 
a few stalks of celery, and 2 small 
onions. Cook slowly 3 hours, watch- 
ing carefully, as it burns easily. Sea- 
son to taste with salt, pepper, and 
paprika. Serve with slices of toast. 
Split pea soup may be made the same 
way. 



Tomato Soup xcith Rice. 



7 oz. rice. 

2 cans tomatoes. 

T teaspoonful baking soda. 
1 teaspoon butter. 
1 tablespoon salt. 

3 qts. boiling milk. 

Stew and strain the tomatoes. 
Wash rice and put in double boiler 
with the boiling water and , boil for 
half an hour, stirring with a fork. 
Add the strained tomatoes, baking 
soda and salt, pepper, butter, and hot 
milk. Cook all together for 20 min- 
utes. 

Split Pea Soup. 

3 lbs. split peas. 

6 oz. onions. 

i lb. salt pork or bacon. 

1 teaspoon celery salt. 

I'epper and salt. 

Soak peas over night in cold water 
;ind one-third teaspoonful of baking 
soda. In the morning drain off water 
and add about 9 quarts of fresh, cold 
water. Boil slowly 3 or 4 hours, and 
r»ut through colander. Fry salt pork 
with onions to a light brown. Add to 
r)eas, also seasoning. Serve with 
toasted squares. 

24."i 



246 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Vegetable Soup. 



2 lbs. beef. 

15 cent soup bone. 

4 oz. barley. 

1* lbs. potatoes. 

i lb. cabbage. 

i lb. turnips. 

i lb. carrots. 

4 oz. onions. 

6 oz. celery. 

1 lb. can tomatoes. 

1 can corn. 



Put soup bone and beef in 2 gals, 
of cold water. Let come to a boil 
slowly and skim. Boil 4 hours. Add 
salt to taste and barley. Chop to- 
gether the potatoes, cabbage, turnips, 
carrots, onions, celery, tomatoes, corn, 
and add to the soup 2 hours before 
serving. 

Cut all meat from the bone, run 
through chopper, and add to the soup. 



MEATS. 



Baked Beef Stew. 



3i lbs. beef. 

1 lb. carrots, 
f lb. turnips. 

2 oz. onions. 

1 clove garlic. 
4 lbs. potatoes. 
Seasoning. 

Put beef, carrots, and turnips through 
coarse meat chopper ; put over fire in 
about 5 quarts of boiling water. 

Simmer for about i hour ; put in 
seasoning, onions, and garlic. Put in 
potatoes, bake in moderately hot oven 
for li hours. One-half hour before 
serving add thickening. It makes 
about 6i quarts in all. 

Beef Loaf tcith Tomato Sauce. 

Bi lbs. chopped beef. 
i lb. chopped pork. 

1 lb. cracker crumbs or stale bread. 

If bread is used, soak in cold water 
until tender ; squeeze out water. Mix 
thoroughly with meat, seasoning well 
with salt and pepper. Make into loaf, 
not too thick, and bake about 1 to 
li hours, basting often with drippings 
and hot water. 

Put in saucepan 1 can tomatoes, 4 
oz. onions, finely chopped, and 1 pt. 
l)oiling water, and season well with 
pepper. and salt. Cook 30 minutes. 

Remove loaf from baking pan, add 1 
(it. boiling water and stir in tomatoes 



and onions. Thicken with 6 oz. flour 
and season well with salt and pepper 
or paprika. 

Pour gravy over loaf and serve with 
mashed potatoes. 

Corn-Beef Hash. 

5 lbs. cooked corn beef. 
7 lbs. potatoes. 

1 onion. 

2 teaspoonsful salt. 
i teaspoon pepper. 

3 cups cream. 

Corn beef should be put on in cold 
water and cooked very slowly for 3 
hours the day before needed. Boil 
potatoes in their skins ; peel, chop all 
together with a meat chopper ; add 
salt, pepper, put in a baking dish and 
pour cream over top. Bake for f hour. 

Creamed Salt Pork. 

Si lbs. lean salt pork. 
1 qt. milk. 

Roll sliced pork in flour and fry 
brown ; put in stew kettle and con- 
tinue to fry until all is done, then 
pour off some of the drippings and 
hi-()wn flour with what is left in pan. 
When flour is brown pour 1 qt. milk 
into pan gradually, stirring constnntly, 
and let come to a boil ; pour over i)orlv 
and put back on fire to simmer for 
1^ to 2 hours. 



APPENDIX C EECIPES FOR OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



247 



Tomato Sauce. 

3 cans tomatoes. 

2 tablespoons flour. 

3 tablespoons butter. 

Cook the tomatoes for 10 minutes ; 
rub tliroush a strainer. Beat in sauce- 
pan until smooth ; add 2 tablespoons 
of flour and 3 tablespoons of butter. 
Salt and pepper and cook 10 minutes. 

This may be served with macaroni, 
rice, etc., as well as with fish and 
meats. The flavor may be modified 
by addition of onions, spices, or herbs. 



Brown Beef Gravy. 

4 lbs. beef. 

I lb. salt pork. 

G oz. onions. 

4 oz. flour. 

1 can peas. 

I can tomatoes. 

Grind beef, salt pork, and onions 
through food chopper. Season with 
salt, pepper, and bake until brown. 
Stir in 4 oz. flour, 1 qt. water, peas, 
and tomatoes. 

Very good with baked or plain boiled 
potatoes. 



FISH. 



Salmon Loaf. 
3 cans salmon. 

3 eggs. 

2 cups milk. 
Cracker crumbs. 

Drain liquor off the salmon. Mince 
salmon and mix with it the eggs, milk, 
and cracker crumbs enough to form 
into a loaf. Bake in a moderate oven 
until nice and brown. 

Salmon and Rice. 
16 oz. rice. 
2 cans salmon. 
1 qt. milk. 

4 oz. butter. 
6 oz. flour. 

Wash well in running water 16 oz. 
of rice. Cover well with boiling water 



to which salt has been added, and 
cook until flaky and tender. Do not 
stir rice while cooking, turn fire low. 
When cooked remove from fire and 
drain in colander. 

Remove skin and bone from salmon, 
put into baking dish, add rice, cover 
with 1 pt. milk and white sauce and 
season well with salt and pepper. 
Put in oven for few minutes until 
thoroughly heated and serve hot. 

White Sauce. 

Add to butter, slightly heated, the 
flour, beat until creamy ; stir into 3 
pts. boiling milk, stirring constantly, 
so as not to burn or lump, if double 
boiler is not used. 



CHEESE. 

Cottage Cheese. 

4 qts. sour milk. Cream. 

Warm and strain milk through cheesecloth ; add just enough cream to blend, 
salt and pepper. 

MISCELLANEOUS STEWS. 



Kidney-Bean Stew. 

2 lbs. beef. 

3 lbs. dried kidney beans. 
1 can tomatoes. 

4 medium-sized onions. 
3 lbs. potatoes. 

Soak beans in cold water over night. 
In the morning drain ofC water and 



start to cook at 8 o'clock in enough 
cold water to cover well. Just as 
soon as beans get soft, add beef cut in 
squares, tomatoes, and onions. At 11 
o'clock add potatoes diced, thicken 
with flour, add salt and pepper to 
taste. 



248 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Vegetable Stew on Toast. 

2 lbs. Scotch dried peas. 
IJ lbs. carrots. 
1 lb. potatoes. 
1 pt. milk. 

1 tablespoon butter. 

Soak peas in plenty of lukewarm 
water over night. In the morning 
drain off water and put on to boil in 
plenty of fresh water. Boil slowly 3 
hours. An hour before serving add 
diced carrots and potatoes ; pint of 
milk. Just before serving add butter, 
and season to taste. Serve on toasted 
bread. A good Friday dish. 

Lentil Steiv with Bacon Strips. 

2 lbs. lentils. 

2 lbs. potatoes. 

1 lb. bacon or li lbs. frankfurts. 
4 oz. drippings. 

2 oz. onions. 

2 cloves garlic. 
Salt and pepper. 
6 oz. flour. 

Soak lentils overnight, put on to 
boil in morning at 8 o'clock, covering 
well with water. Put bacon through 
coarse meat cutter, put in baking pan 
and fry to light brown. Pour olT 
drippings, add to lentils, also onions 
and garlic. One hour before serving 
add potatoes cut into squares. Brown 
flour in drippings, put with lentils i 
hour before serving. 

The garlic gives the stew the flavor 
of frankfurts, and the children like 
it just as well. If frankfurts are used 
instead of bacon, cut in small pieces. 

Carrot Stew. 

6 oz. onions. 

3 lbs. carrots. 
3 lbs. tomatoes. 
8 oz. rice. 

1 stalk celery. 

Saute the onions in two table- 
si)()ons drippings. Put carrots through 
coarse knife of food chopper ; add to 



the onions, then add boiling water 
enough to make sufficient amount of 
soup when carrots are done. Add rice 
and cook slowly till done, IJ hours. 
Season with salt and pepper. 

Baked Pork and Beans. 

5 lbs. navy beans. 
2 lbs. salt pork. 

6 oz. molasses. 
Salt. 
Paprika. 

Wash and soak beans overnight. 
Boil on slow fire 3 hours, keeping well 
covered with water. Slice salt pork, 
add molasses, salt, and paprika. 
Place in oven and bake 1^ hours. 

Baked Macaroni and Spaghetti. 

2* lbs. macaroni or spaghetti, 
f lb. salt pork. 

1 onion. 

i teaspoon salt. 
* lb. cheese. 

2 cans tomatoes. 

\ teaspoon celery salt. 
i teaspoon pepper. 
i teaspoon paprika. 

1 teaspoon sugar. 

Boil macaroni or spaghetti in salted 
water about 45 minutes ; rinse in cold 
water ; add ground salt pork, cheese 
chipped fine. Boil tomatoes ; add diced 
onion, salt, celery salt, pepper, 
paprika, and sugar; boil slowly about 
i hour. Place macaroni in baking 
dish, add salt pork, cheese, and to- 
matoes and bake about one hour. 

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce. 

3 lbs. spaghetti. 

2 cans tomatoes. 

4 oz. oriions. 

2 cloves garlic. 

i lb. bacon strip or salt pork. 

Paprika. 

Boil spaghetti in plenty of boiling 
salted water for 20 minutes, rinse in 
cold water. Put in baking dish. Fry 
salt pork and onions, also garlic to a 



APPENDIX C RECIPES FOR OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



249 



light brown. Put tomatoes in stew 
pan. Boil until cooked througli ; 
strain and add salt pork, onions, and 
seasoning. Bake one hour in hot oven. 



To make another dish, add i lb. of 
cheese to spaghetti. 

For a Friday dish, omit bacon or 
salt pork ; use i lb. butter instead. 



VEGETABLES. 



Scalloped Potatoes. 
7 lbs. potatoes. 
Onion. 
Milk. 

Boil potatoes with jackets on. Peel 
and slice in pudding dish. Cover po- 
tatoes with milk; add grated onion; 
season and bake in hot oven one hour. 

A nice addition is f lb. grated cheese 
sprinkled over top about 15 minutes 
before taking out of oven. 

Carrots and Peas. 
10 oz. diced carrots. 

2 cans peas. 
1 qt. milk. 

3 oz. flour. 

Cook carrots f hour, add peas, 
milk, flour, and salt. 



Cabbage Salad. 



2^ to 3 lbs. cabbage. 

1 egg. 

1 spoon mustard. 

i cup salt. 

1 tablespoon sugar. 

1 tablespoon flour. 

Butter size of egg. 

1 cup vinegar. 

2 cup water. 

Mix mustard, salt, sugar, and flour 
together until free of lumps; add egg 
well beaten, vinegar, and water. Put 
in double boiler to thicken, stirring 
all the time, adding butter. When 
used, thin with cream. Put cabbage 
through grinder, mix with dressing, 
serve on plates with baked beans. 



CAKES AND HOT BREADS. 



Pumpkin Cakes. 

i cup butter. 

1 cup sugar. 

2 eggs. 

1 cup molasses. 

2 cups strained pumpkin. 
1 cup sour milk. 

1 teaspoon soda. 

1 teaspoon cinnamon, cloves. 

Ginger and lemon extract. 

3 cups flour. 

Beat well ; bake in muffin tins in a 
slow oven about 45 minutes. Makes' 
30 cakes. 

Ginger Bread. 



gs. 



4 cup butter or good dripping; 

1 cup sugar. 

1 cup molasses. 

1 cup sour milk. 

1 teaspoon soda. 

2i cups flour. 

Bake in slow oven i hour. 



dinger Cake. 

f cup butter or half lard or drippings 

and half butler. 
1 cup molasses. 
1 cup sugar. 
1 rounded spoon ginger. 
1 rounded spoon cinnamon. 

1 cup sour milk. 

2 spoons baking soda, dissolved in 2 
tablespoons warm water. 

3 cups flour, well sifted. 
2 eggs, well beaten. 
Pinch of salt. 

Have bake tins well greased and 
bake in slow oven for i hour. Al- 
ways grease tins with lard, as grease 
with salt will make cake stick to tins. 

Cornmcal Gems. 

2 cups cornmeal. 

2 cups flour. 

2 cups sour milk. 

1 teaspoon baking soda. 

2 eggs. 

Bake in a moderate oven 2.1 minutes. 



250 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Oatmeal Cookies. 

5 cups rolled oats. 
2 cups sour milk. 

Soak overnight and add — 
1 cup molasses. 
1 teaspoon soda. 
1 teaspoon salt. 
5 eggs. 
IJ cups flour. 

Bake in moderate oven. 



B7~an Muffins. 

2 cups bran. . 

1 cup white flour. 

1 cup sour milk. 

5 teaspoon baking soda. 

1 po-or 

1 small cup molasses. 
Teaspoon salt. 

Bake 45 minutes. 



DESSERTS. 



Baked Rice. 

1 lb. rice. 

8 oz. sugar. 

2 teaspoon cinnamon. 
i teaspoon salt. 

2| qts. milk. 

Wash rice well in several waters, 
put in pudding dish, add sugar, salt, 
and cinnamon, then milk, cold. Bake 
in moderate oven 2 hours. 

The addition of 2 eggs well beaten 
and 6 oz. of raisins will make a L'icher 
pudding. 

Farina. 

7 oz. farina. 

8 oz. sugar. 

2 spoonfuls vanilla. 

Put milk in double boiler to heat. 
When hot pour in farina, stirring 
so it will not lump. Let cook 15 to 20 
minutes. Beat up eggs and add to 
farina. Take from stove, add sugar 
and vanilla, stirring well. 

Tapioca Pudding. 

2 qts. milk. 

6 oz. minute tapioca. 

3 eggs. 

8 oz. sugar. 

1 teaspoon vanilla. 

Put the milk in double boiler until 
it comes to the scalding point ; stir 



in the tapioca, stirring well for 10 
minutes ; beat together the eggs, sugar, 
vanilla, and a litle nutmeg; beat into 
tapioca until light. This will serve 
30 people. 

Dried Fruits. 

2 lbs. dried fruit. 
12 oz. sugar. 

Wash the fruit and soak in cold 
water 24 hours. Drain thoroughly, 
cover with boiling water, and simmer 
until fruit is tender. Add sugar a few 
minutes before done. Peaches, prunes, 
apricots, apples, loganberries, or rai- 
sins may be cooked this way. Ap- 
ples combine well with any of the 
above fruits except loganberries. 

Cocoa Pudding. 

3 qts. milk. 
3 oz. cocoa. 

5 oz. cornstarch. 
Sugar. 

Three qts. of milk in double boiler, 
add sugar to taste ; dissolve three oz. 
of cocoa in enough boiling water to 
make it smooth. Add this to the boil- 
ing milk. Thicken with 5 oz. corn- 
starch made smooth with milk. Cook 
30 minutes. Flavor with vanilla. 
Serve cold with cream and sugar. 



APPENDIX D. 

LIST OF CHICAGO MENUS, MATERIALS USED, AND THEIR COST. 



Morning lunch — Cocoa, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Browned beef stew, boiled potatoes, mashed turnips, bread and 
milk, farina pudding. 



Material used: 


Number served: 


2 


large loaves rye bread. 


30 children. 


3 


loaves whole wheat bread. 


2 attendants. 


8 


oz. butter. 


I*er capita caloric value, 1,002. 


3 


oz. cocoa. 


Per capita estimated cost, 10 J cents. 


5 


oz. farina. 




5 


oz. flour. 




8 


oz. jelly. 




5 


lbs. beef. 




22 


qts. milk. 




12 


oz. onions. 




11^ 


lbs. potatoes. 




18 


oz. sugar. 




5 


lbs. turnips. 





Morning lunch — Cocoa, raisin bread. 

Noon dinner— Baked lima beans, cabbage salad, apple sauce, bread and 
milk. 



Material used: 


Number served : 


4i 


lbs. lima beans. 


30 children. 


2 


large loaves rye bread. 


2 attendants. 


2 


large loaves raisin bread. 


Per capita caloric value, 1,031. 


8 


oz. butter. 


Per capita estimated cost, 9 cents. 


3 


oz. cocoa. 




5 


lbs. fresh apples. 




22 


qts. milk. 




18 


oz. sugar. 




1 


can tomatoes. 




41 lbs. cabbage. 





251 



252 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Morning lunch — ^Milk, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Browned beef and gravy, baked potatoes, bread, milk, tapioca 
pudding. 

Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,233. 
Per capita estimated cost, 11^ cents. 



Material used: 


4 


large loaves white bread. 


2 


eggs. 


8 


oz. 


flour. 


1 


lb. 


jelly. 


4J lbs 


chopped beef. 


28 


qts 


milk. 


4 


oz. 


onions. 


9 


lbs 


potatoes. 


S 


oz. 


sugar. 


5 


oz. 


tapioca. 



Morning lunch — Milk, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, kidney bean stew, cabbage salad, apricot sauce. 



Material used: 


Number served: 


2 


lbs. kidney beans. 


25 children. 


8* 


small loaves white bread. 


2 attendants. 


2 


oz. cornstarch. 


Per capita caloric value, 1,097. 


1 


lb. apricots. 


Per capita estimated cost, 9f cents. 


3 


oz. flour. 




6 


oz. jelly. 




3 


lbs. beef. 




20 


qts. milk. 




8 


oz. onions. 




4J 


lbs. potatoes. 




8 


oz. sugar. 




1 


can tomatoes. 




4i 


oz. cabbage. 





Morning lunch — Milk, bread, apple butter. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, spaghetti with tomatoes, apricots. 



Material used: 

6 large loaves white bread. 

1 lb. apricots. 

1 lb. apple butter. 
6 oz. bacon. 

22 qts. milk. 

3 oz. onions. 

2i lbs. spaghetti. 

12 oz. sugar. 

2 cans tomatoes. 



Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,014. 
Per capita estimated cost, 9i cents. 



APPENDIX D CHICAGO MENUS AND THEIR COST. 



253 



Morning lunch — Cocoa, raisin bread. 

Noon dinner— IMilk, bread, vegetable soup with macaroni, baked rice. 



Material used: 


Number served : 


4 


small loaves raisin bread. 


25 children. 


3 


large loaves white bread. 


2 attendants. 


1 


lb. carrots. 


Per capita caloric value, 1,070. 


5 


oz. cocoa. 


Per capita estimated cost, 9i cents. 


8 


oz. macaroni. 




2 


lbs. beef. 




4 


oz. onions. 




8 


oz. rice. 




14 


oz. sugar. 




1 


can corn. 




1 


lb. celery. 




12 


oz. cabbage. 




20 


qts. milk. 





Morning lunch^Cocoa, bread, sirup. 

Noon dinner — Pea and barley soup, bread, butter, milk, stewed peaches. 



Material used: 


Number served : 


1 lb. barley. 


30 children. 


3 large loaves rye bread. 


2 attendants. 


3 small loaves whole wheat. 


Per capita caloric value, 998. 


8 oz. butter. 


Per capita estimated cost, 9 cents. 


4 oz. cocoa. 




24 oz. peaches. 




4 lbs. soup bone. 




20 qts. milk. 




8 oz. onions. 




1 lb. dried peas. 




20 oz. potatoes. 




4 oz. rice. 




22 oz. sugar. 




8 oz. sirup. 




1 can tomatoes. 





Morning lunch — Cocoa, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Browned beef stew, noodles, bread, butterine, milk, prunes. 

Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants. 
I'er capita caloric value, 1,048. 
Per capita estimated cost, 10 cents. 



Material used: 


2 


large loaves rye brend. 


2 


small loaves whole wheat. 


8 


oz. butter. 


4 


oz. cocoa. 


24 


oz. prunes. 


4 


oz. flour. 


8 


oz. jelly. 


5 


lbs. beef. 


20 qts. milk. 


20 


oz. sugar. 


2i lbs. noodles. 



254 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Morning lunch — Cocoa, raisin bread. 

Noon dinner — Boiled eggs, mashed potatoes, bread, milk, baked rice pudding. 



Material used: 


Number served : 


2 


large loaves rye bread. 


25 children. 


2 


large loaves raisin bread. 


2 attendants. 


4 


oz. tocoa. 


I'er capita caloric value, 1,016. 


3 


oz. raisins. 


I'er capita estimated cost, 10 cents. ' 


28 


eggs. 




18 


qts. milk. 




10^ pounds potatoes. 




20 


oz. rice. 




26 


oz. sugar. 





Slorning lunch — Corn-meal mush, cocoa, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Beef loaf and gravy, mashed potatoes, bread and milk, 
sliced bananas. 

Number served : 
2.5 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,020. 
Per capita estimated cost, 11 cents. 



Material used: 


3 


large loaves rye bread. 


3 


small loaves vs^hole wheat. 


8 


oz. butter. 


3 


oz. cocoa. 


14 


oz. corn meal. 


3 


oz. flour. 


7 


oz. jelly. 


3i 


lbs. beef 


20 


qts. milk. 


5 


oz. onions. 


lOi 


lbs. potatoes. 


1 


lb. sugar. 


2i 


lbs. bananas. 


1 


can tomatoes. 



Morning lunch — Milk, bread, jelly oat meal. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, beef balls, spaghetti, cottage cheese, chocolate 
pudding. 



Material used: 

4 small loaves white bread. 
4 large loaves graham bread. 
2 oz. cocoa. 
16 oz. oat meal. 

2 oz. cornstarch. 
8 oz. jelly. 

3 lbs. beef. 
22 qts. milk. 

2 cans tomatoes. 

2 lbs. cottage cheese. 



Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants 
I'er capita caloric value, 1,000. 
Per capita estimated cost, 9 cents. 



APPENDIX 



-CHICAGO MENUS AND THEIR COST. 



255 



Morning lunch — IMilk, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, browned beef, peas, boiled potatoes, baked apples. 



Material used: 






Number sei'ved : 


8 small loaves 


white 


bread. 


25 children. 


5 lbs. fresh apples. 




2 attendants. 


8 oz. jelly. 






1 physician. 


4i lbs. beef. 






Per capita caloric value, 1,132. 


20 qts. milk. 






Per capita estimated cost, 11 J cents. 


4 oz. onions. 








2 cans peas. 








10 lbs. potatoes. 








8 oz. sugar. 









Morning lunch — Milk, bread, jell.v. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, creamed salmon, boiled potatoes, cottage cheese, 
ginger bread, peaches. 



Matcrin 


I vscd: 




Number served : 


8 


small loaves 


white bread. 


30 children. 


2 


oz. butter. 




2 attendants. 


li lbs. peaches. 




Per capita caloric value, 1,000. 


2 


eggs. 




Per capita estimated cost, 9 cents. 


8 


oz. flour. 






' 10 


oz. jelly. 






2 


cans salmon. 






24 


qts. milk. 






8 


lbs. potatoes. 






20 


oz. sugar. 






3 


oz. molasses. 






3^ lbs. cottage cheese. 





Morning lunch — Cocoa, bread, sirup. 

Noon dinner — Lamb stew and peas, boiled potatoes, bread and milk, 
farina pudding. 



Material used: 








Number served : 


2 


large loaves 


rye 


bread. 


30 children. 


8 


small loaves 


whole 


wheat. 


2 attendants. 


8 
4 
5 


oz. butter, 
oz. cocoa, 
oz. farina. 








Per capita caloric value, 1,045. 
Per capita estimated cost, 12 cents. 


4 


oz. flour. 










6 


lbs. lamb. 










20 


qts. milk.' 










5 


oz. onions. 










3 
11 


cans peas, 
lbs. potatoes. 










20 


oz. sugar. 










8 


oz. sirup. 











256 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



Morning lunch — Cocoa, bi*ead, and jam. 

Noon dinner — Creamed codfisli, boiled potatoes, bread and milk, dates. 



Mater i 


al used: 






2 


lar 


ge loaves 


rye bread. 


3 


small loaves 


whole 


wheat. 


8 


oz. 


butter. 






4 


oz. 


cocoa. 






3 


lbs 


dates. 






5 


oz. 


flour. 






4 lbs 


codfish. 






20 


qts 


milk. 






11 


lbs 


potatoes. 






10 


oz. 


sugar. 






8 


oz. 


jam. 







Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,002. 
Per capita estimated cost, 10 cents. 



Morning lunch — Cocoa, bread. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, split-pea soup, loganberries. 



Material used: 

5 large loaves white bread. 

5 oz. cocoa. 

8 oz. loganberries. 

8 oz. salt pork. 

4 oz. onions. 

3 lbs. split peas. 
18 oz. sugar. 
18 qts. milk. 



Number served: 
25 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,045. 
Per capita estimated cost, 9 cents. 



Morning hinch— Milk, bread. 

Noon dinner — Milk, bread, beef loaf with tomatoes, mashed potatoes, corn. 



Material used: 




Number served: 


5 large loaves white 


bread. 


25 children. 


3 cans corn. 




2 attendants. 


2 eggs. 




Per capita caloric value, 1,105. 


6 oz. flour. 




Per capita estimated cost, 11^ cents. 


4 lbs. beef. 






18 Qts. milk. 






2 oz. onions. 






7 lbs. potatoes. 






1 can tomatoes. 







APPENDIX D CHICAGO MENUS AND THEIR COST. 



257 



INIorning lunch — Milk, bread, syrup. 

Noon dinner — Creamed salmon, lyonnaise potatoes, bread, milk, stQwed prunes. 



Material used: 


Number served : 


5 large loaves white bread. 


30 children. 


4 oz. butter. 


2 attendants. 


li lbs. prunes. 


Per capita caloric value, 1,008. 


8 oz. flour. 


I*er capita estimated cost, 10 cents. 


24 qts. milk. 




4 oz. onions. 




9 lbs. potatoes. 




8 oz. sugar. 




1 lb. sirup. 




2 cans salmon. 





^lorning lunch — Cocoa, raisin bread. 

Noon dinner — Cream of tomato soup, bread and milk, cocoa pudding 



Material used: 

5 small loaves rye bread. 

2 loaves raisin bread. 
8 oz. butter. 

6oz. cocoa. 
12 oz. cornstarch. 
24 qts. milk. 
20 oz. sugar. 

3 cans tomatoes. 



Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,146. 
P(>r capita estimated cost, 9^ cents. 



Morning lunch — Cocoa, bread, jelly. 

Noon dinner — Baked beans, beet salad, bread and milk, apple sauce. 



Material used: 

4i lbs. navy beans. 

2 large loaves rye bread. 

3 small loaves w^hole 

bread. 
8 oz. butter. 
3 oz. cocoa. 

5 lbs. fresh apples. 
8 oz. jelly. 

20 qts. milk. 
22 oz. sugar. 
1 can tomatoes. 

6 lbs. beets. 



wheat 



Number served : 
30 children. 
2 attendants. 
Per capita caloric value, 1,063. 
Per capita estimated cost, 9J cents. 



97855°— Bull. 23—17- 



-17 



APPENDIX E. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR OPEN-AIR CLASSES. 

Boston Public Schools, Superintendent's Office, November 5, 1913. 



Object. — The primary object of open-air classes is to better the health of the 
pupils. This should not be interpreted to mean, however, that mental work, 
school discipline, or school programs, planned for the average normal child, 
should be set aside completely ; neither is such a course necessary. 

Tijpe of child. — The physically debilitated child, for whom the open-air class 
is created, is capable of much mental work if the mental work is judiciously 
adjusted with the decreased or impaired physical asset of the child. This is 
not always possible in the regular-grade classroom, even when the conditions 
of fresh air, sunshine, and curriculum approximate those advocated for open- 
air classes. Hence the need of special classes for the debilitated children who 
are not ill to a degree sufficient to make hospital or home treatment necessary, 
but who are, nevertheless, in such a lowered physical state that the routine 
classroom program is unprofitable both mentally and physically. 

Not for tuberculous children. — These pupils are not tuberculous, and every 
effort should be made to have the parents and teachers understand that open- 
air classes are not for tuberculous children. Tuberculous children are best 
cared for in special hospital schools. 

Admission to classes. — Pupils shall be regularly admitted to open-air classes 
by the principal of the school, subject to~ the approval of the du-ector of school 
hygiene (section 391). 

Principals of schools in districts where open-air classes are authorized, or 
principals of schools where, in the opinion of the school physician, such classes 
should be established, should submit to the director of school hygiene a list of 
pupils for assignment to open-air classes. 

Organization of classes. — The number of pupils to assign to each open-air 
class is 36. 

Classes may be organized with one grade of pupils or with two or three 
grades of pupils. 

No pupil shall be assigned to an open-air class without consultation with the 
parent or guardian. 

FRKSH-AIK ROOMS. 

In school buildings having looms constructed for open-air classes, but in 
\vhich there is not a sufficient number of debilitated children for the formation 
of such classes, said rooms shall be utilized as fresh-air rooms (Order of School 
Committee, May .">, 1913). 

These fresh-air rooms might be used advantageously by special classes (men- 
tally defectives). 
258 



APPEXDIX E SUGGESTIONS FOR OPEN-AIR CLASSES. 259 

CLASSROOM TEMPEKATUKK. 

The re^ilations of the school committee provide that no room temperature 
shall exceetl 67 degrees. 

The regulations further provide that the windows on one side of each class- 
room shall be kept open all the time; also that at rejrular periods complete 
Hushing of each classroom and corridor with fresh air, by means of open win- 
dows, shall be carried out in each session. 

DAILY I'ltOOr.Air. 

Work and rest. — The underlying principle in the daily school program for 
debilitated children is to alternate the periods of work and periods of rest. 
This method gives to both the mental and physical development every possible 
growth. When kept within physiological limits, a good brain means a good 
physical state, and conversely, a good physical condition means a healthy brain. 
This balance is more easily upset the nearer one gets to the minimum of reserve 
power of either system. The great problem, therefore, for a teacher to solve 
is that of each child's physical and mental capacity. This is es.sentially an 
individual problem ; it is not dependent solely upon chronological age, nor sex, 
nor grade, nor upon social condition and environment ; neither is it based upon 
any supposed factors of heredity. 

Attention and concentration. — There is, perhaps, no better index of mental 
overwork tlian that furnished by lack of attention and failure of concentra- 
tion. A teacher who is able to perceive the presence of either of these factors 
is possessed of the key to both successful teaching an<l the maintenance of 
healthful child development. 

Signs of fatigue. — The chief signs of fatigue are excitability, irritability, slow 
sense of perception, inattention, restlessness, shifting of position and posture, 
repeated failure on familiar problems. 

METHODS OF TEACHING. 

Arithmetic. — This subject has a great mental strain content and should be 
taught at periods following rest. The best period for this subject, in the daily 
program, seems to be between 9 and 10 o'clock a. m. The fatigue strain is in- 
crea.sed greatly by combining written arithmetic witli oral. 

In open-air classes every advantage should be taken of teaching arithmetic by 
means of measurenients. i. e.. large measurements in lower grades (1, 2, and 3) 
more minute measurements in higher grades. This work should be done, as 
far as practicable, by means of games and plays, competition, i. e., scoring, 
measuring between points out of doors, etc. 

The mental strain of arithmetic can be reduce<l greatly by using muscular 
sen.^e rather than visual sense, esjiecially in written arithmetic, e. g., black- 
board work and exercises in counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, 
division, incidental to exercise, games, and plays. 

Mental arithmetic should not follow a lesson in history, writing, drawing, 
or sewing. 

Writing and drawing. — These subjects should be taught, in the earlier grades, 
by means of large muscular movements rather than through the sense of sight. 
Tills should be done by large shoulder movements in forearm work on black- 
board. The progression in drawing and in writing should be from the oblique 
straight lines to the ellipses, to the circles, and then to the vertical or hori- 
zontal strokes from which elements, squares, rectangles, and curves can be 



260 



OPEN-ATR SCHOOLS. 



developed. Blackboard and sand trays ofEer the best means of teaching these 
subjects in the first two grades. Later, covered electric wires of short lengths 
can be used. This material can be bent easily into figures and letter shapes. 

No pencils, paper, pens, ink, or needles should be used in the kindergarten or 
first three grades. 

Writing and drawing are less fatiguing when done in a standing position 
(blackboard) than when attempted in a sitting position with the use of paper 
cr copy books. 

Ruled paper, especially dotted lines, should not be used in the three lower 
grades, either for spacing the letters or for teaching proper alinement. In the 
higher grades thick black lines or blue lines may be used. Continuance of writ- 
ing lessons is tiresome and fatiguing. Short lessons, illustrating a lesson then 
going on, may often be used to great advantage. 

Physical exercises. — The possibility of fatigue in these exercises, especially if 
formal drill is followed, should not be overlooked. For pupils in the open air 
a short run (avoiding breath holding), stretching exercises, breathing exer- 
cises, are all that are necessary. These exercises may be worked into games 
and plays provided competition does not drive the children into a state of over- 
excitability or overexertion. 

DAILY PUOGEAM. 

The subjects and exercises required for the grades corresponding to the grade 
or grades comprising the open-air classes should be followed. 

The time allowance for each subject or exercise, however (see p. 6, School 
Doc. No. 8), should be so varied by the teacher in charge that the pupils may 
have the advantage of frequent periods of rest and relaxation. This can be 
done by combining the subjects and exercises in such a wny that the edu- 
cational value is increased rather than diminished by such curtailment of time. 

Typical daily program.— The following daily program combines the require- 
ments of the school committee with the special requirements suggested above 
for open-air classes : 

Ti/pical daily program. 



Subject. 



Grades. 



9.00 to 9.10 ' Opening exercise 



9.10 to 9.20. 



9.20 to 10.00 

10.00 to 10.10... 
10.10 to 10.30... 
10.30 to 10.50... 
10.50 to 11.15... 
11.15 to 11.30... 
11.30 to 11.40... 
11. 40 to 12.00... 

12.00 to 1.30 

1.30 to 1.40 

1.40tol..50 

1..50to2.00 

2.00 to 2.20 

2.20to2.30 , ., 

2.30 to 3.00 OeoRraphy 

3 00 to 3.10 Physical training 

3.10 to 3.30 Oral arithmetic '. 



Personal hygiene 

Medical inspection 

Hygiene and physiology teaching . 
' IS outlined above) 



:Vrithmetic (as ( 

Music 

Luncheon ; 

Rgccss - - •- 

Elementary science, manual training, or household science. 

Spoken English, reading, and literature 

Physical training 

Written English 

Home 

Rest; relaxation; story telling 

Sight arithmetic 

Physical training 

Drawing 

P'ree play; recess 



All. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
I-II. 
IV-V. 
All. 

Do. 

i-ii-ni. 

IV, etc. 
Do. 
Do. 



1 Alternate days with manual training 



FiChool nunses. — The school i)iir.><e will be found invaluubk' in creating an 
interest among parents concerning the carrying out of open-air class instruction. 
The nurse should visit the home of each child selected for open-air instruction 



APPENDIX E SUGGESTIONS FOR OPEN-AIR CLASSES. 261 

to acquaint tlie parent or guardian with the aims and purposes of the (lass 
and to Rive tlie necessary instruction relative to the home care of the cliild, 
especially on questions of proper food, hours of sleep, fresh air in the home, etc. 

LiiiK-hroiis. — Much debility is created among children in the lower grades on 
account of the radical transformation in their mode of life — home life to 
school life. So far as possible, children in the lower grades, whether or not 
in the open-air classes, should be encouraged to bring from home a suitable 
luncheon. The school nurses have been instructed as to the best articles of 
food to recommend to the parents for these luncheons. 

In the open-air classes opportunity should be afforded for each child to 
purchase, at a cost not exceeding 2 cents daily, a glass of milk, a hot drink — 
cocoa, chocolate, broth, or chowder. This is to be in addition to the luncheon 
brought from home. 

Extra clothing. — The school committee furnishes blankets for each child 
assigned to the open-air classes ; these blankets are so made that they may 
be adjusted to children of different sizes. The blankets are thoroughly 
fumigated by the board of health at the end of each school terra. Each 
blanket should be marked with the name of the child, and all interchanging 
of blankets, without fumigation, should be guarded against. 

Furniture. — aiovable furniture, of the seat and desk combination, offers 
many advantages over furniture attached to the floor. In open-air classes 
in school buildings this furniture can be removed from the center of the room, 
and space for rest, as well as for games and plays, can be ci'eated. 



APPENDIX F. 
LEGISLATION AND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS. 



Chapter 575 of the Acts of the Legislature of Massachusetts, Session 1913. 

An Act to Authorize Cities and Towns to Provide Free Meals for School Children : 
Be it enacted , etc., as follows: 

Section 1. The city council of a city and the selectmen of a town may pro- 
vide meals or lunches free or at such price, not exceeding the cost, as they 
may fix, for children attending its public schools, and cities and towns may 
appropriate money for this purpose. 

Sec. 2. This act shall be submitted to the voters of any city or town at the 
municipal election in any year if a petition to that effect, signed by not less 
than five per cent of the voters, is filed with the city clerk or town clerk, as 
the case maj^ be, not less than one month before said election ; and if ac- 
cepted by a majority of the voters thereon it shall take effect in such city or 
town. Otherwise this act shall not take effect. (Approved May 2, 1913.) 

Section 1509 of the School Code of Pennsylvania : 

Persons having tuberculosis. — No person having tuberculosis of the lungs 
shall be a pupil, teacher, janitor, or other employee in any public school, un- 
less it be a special school carried on under the regulations made for such 
schools by the commissioner of health. 

Section 1609. Physiology and hygiene. Effect of alcoholic drinks, etc. : 

Physiology and hygiene, which shall in each division of the subject so 
pursued include special reference to the effect of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, 
and narcotics upon the human system, and which shall also include special 
reference to tuberculosis and its prevention, shall be introduced and studied 
as a regular branch by all pupils in all departments of the public schools of 
this Commonwealth and in all educational institutions supported wholly or in 
part by money from this Commonwealth. 

Legislation, Elmira. N. Y. : 

6. The medical inspector shall at the beginning of each school year examine 
all teachers and janitors of the public schools of the city of Elmira and report 
the results of such examinations to the board of education. 

No person having tuberculosis of the lungs shall be a pupil, teacher, janitor, 
or other employee in any of the public schools of the city of Elmira, unless 
it be a special school carried on under the regulations made for such schools 
by the board of education. (.Vm. Sch. Bd. .Tournal, Oct.. 1914.) 

Recommendation Made to Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives by a 

Commission Appointed by the Massachusetts General Assembly in 1912 : 

The board believes that the question of tulierculosis in children is one of 

primary importance. This fact has been recognized already by the trustees 

of hospitals for consumptives through the adoption of the policy of caring for 

262 



LEGISLATION AND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS. 2()3 

consumptive chikli-en at one institution, tlie AVestfield State Sanatorium, 
where 60 such children are receiving not only sanatorium treatment but also 
proper schooling. The board believes such outdoor schooling and treatment for 
that large class of children who are anemic, under weight, and otherwise 
predisposed to tuberculosis to be a most important factor in any scheme of 
prevention. The board, therefore, recommends the further establishment 
throughout the State of fresh-air rooms and open-air schools for chililren. 
Such a plan would, of necessity, require a nuich more adequate and rigid 
system of medical school inspection than now exists. 

Henry P. Walcott, M. D., 
Clement F. Coogan, 
Joseph A. Plouff, 
Julian A. Mead, M. D., 
Hiram F. Mills, C. E., 
Robert W. Lovett, M. D., 

C. E. McGlLLICUDDY, 

State Board of Health. 
Daniel S. Prendergast, 
Sylvia B. Knowlton, 
Albert C. Getchell, INI. D., 
Arthur Drinkwater, 
George A. Dunn, 
Trustees of Hospitals for Consumptives. 
John B. Hawes, 2d, M. D., 

Secretary of Joint Board. 



APPENDIX G. 
LISTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 



CITIES HAVING PUBLIC OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS FOR PHYSICALLY SUBNORMAL 
CHILDREN— SUPERINTENDENTS. 

California : San Francisco- Superintendent of schools. 
Colorado : 

Boulder Do. 

Denver Dr. W. H. Smiley, superintendent of schools. 

Connecticut : 

Hartford Thomas S. Weaver, superintendent of schools. 

New Britain S. H. Holmes, superintendent of schools. 

New Haven F. H. Beede, superintendent of schools. 

South Manchester F. A. Verplanck, superintendent of schools. 

Waterbury M. Louise Seymour, Nottingham Terrace. 

District of Columbia : Wash- 
ington S. E. Kramer, assistant superintendent of schools. 

Georgia : Atlanta L. M. Landrum, superintendent of schools. 

Illinois : 

Chicago Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund, 315 Ply- 
mouth Court. 

Jacksonville H. A. Perrin, superintendent of schools. 

Maywood Superintendent of schools. 

Peoria Do. 

Rockford Do. 

Indiana : 

Fort Wayne Do. 

Indianapolis Do. 

Gary Dr. O. B. Nesbitt, school physician, 

Anderson Superintendent of schools. 

Iowa : 

Des Moines Do. 

Dubuque Do. 

Kentucky : 

Lexington Do. 

Louisville Miss Carleen E. Proehl. prlncip.il of open-air 

school. 

Maryland : Baltimore Fi-ancis A. Soper, superintendent of schools. 

Massachusetts : 

Boston Dr. Thomas F. Harrington, director school liygiene. 

Cambridge Frank E. Parlin, superintendent of schools. 

Canton .Tohn C. Davis, .superintendent of schools. 

Chelsea Frank E. Parlin, sui»erintendent of schools. 

Holyoke Francis McSheny, superintendent of schools. 

New Bedford Allen P. Keith, superintendent of schools. 

Springfield James H. Van Sickle, superintendent of schools. 

Winchester Schuyler F. Herron, superintendent of schools. 

Worcester H. P. Lewis, superintendent of schools. 

Lynn Superintendent of schools. 

264 



APPENDIX G LISTS OF OPEX-AIR SCHOOLS. 265 

Michigan : 

Battle Creek W. G. Coburn. superintendent of scliools. 

Detroit Fi-anlv Cody, superintendent of scliools. 

Flint Superintendent of scliools. 

Grand Rapids W. A. Greeson, superintendent of schools. 

Iron Mountain L. A. Butler, superintendent of schools. 

Jackson Superintendent of schools. 

Kalamazoo Do. 

Lansing .T. W. Sexton, superintendent of schools. 

^Manistee Superintendent of schools. 

IMenominee John S. Silvernale, superintendent of schools. 

Minnesota : 

Duluth Dr. John H. Andres, medical inspector. 

Eveleth B. O. Greening, superintendent of schools. 

Minneapolis Dr. C. H. Keene, director of hygiene. 

St. Paul Dr. E. A. Meyerding. director of h.vgiene. 

Missouri : 

Kansas City I. I. Cammack, superintendent of schools. 

St. Louis Superintendent of schools. 

Nebraska : Lincoln Do. 

New Jersey : 

East Orange Do. 

Hackensack Do. 

aiontdair Don C. Bliss, superintendent of schools. 

Newark Dr. George E. Holmes, medical inspector. 

Orange Superintendent of schools. 

Plainfield Henry M. Maxson, superintendent of schools. 

Trenton Ebenezer Mackey, superintendent of schools. 

New York : 

Albany Dr. Clinton P. ;McCord, health director. 

Brooklyn .Tames Jenkins, .ir., 69 Schermerhoru Street. 

Buffalo Superintendent of schools. 

Fulton J. R. Fairgrieve, superintendent of schools. 

Hornell Sui^erintendent of schools. 

Buffalo Do. 

New York City Do. 

Rochester Do. 

Saranac Lake H. V. Littell, superintendent of .schools. 

Schenectady A. R. Brubacker. superintendent of schools. 

Syracuse P. M. Hughes, superintendent of schools. 

Utiea W. B. Sprague, superintendent of schools. 

I'^onkers Superintendent of schools. 

Ohio: 

Cincinnati Dr. William H. Peters, chief medical inspector. 

Cleveland Dr. E. A. Peterson, medical inspector. 

Columbus Superintendent of schools. 

Toledo Dr. Porter B. Brockway, medical insjiector. 

Oregon: Portland Superintendent of schools. 

Pennsylvania : 

Allentown F. D. Raub, superintendent of .schools. 

Bethlehem William G. Cleaver, superintendent of schools. 

Erie I. B. Bush, superintendent of schools. 

Hazelton David A. Harmon, superintendent of schools. 

Philadelphia Dr. Walter S. Cornell, medical director. 



266 OPEN-ATK SCFfOOLS. 

Pennsylvania — Continued, 

Pittsburgh Dr. Thomas W. Grayson, 1102 Westinghouse 

Building. 

Williamspoi't F. W. Robins, superintendent of schools. 

Harrisburg Dr. F. E. Downs, superintendent of schools. 

Rhode Island : 

Pawtucket Frank O. Draper, superintendent of schools. 

Providence Randall J. Condon, superintendent of schools. 

Hoxsie Superintendent of scliools. 

Virginia : Richmond Dr. N. Y. Ennett, medical director of schools. 

Wisconsin : 

Green Bay Superintendent of schools. 

Kenosha Mrs. Mary D. Bradford, superintendent of schools. 

Milwaukee Dr. George P. Earth, director of hygiene. 

Oshkosh Superintendent of schools. 

Racine Do. 



OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS OR CLASSES FOR NORMAL CHILDREN— SUPERINTENDENTS. 

California : 

Almeda . Superintendent of schools. 

Alhambra Do. 

Bakersfield Do. 

Chico Do. 

Chula Vista Do. 

Coronado Do. 

Dehesa Do. 

El Cajon Do. 

Fi-esno C. C. Starr, superintendent of schools. 

Glendale Superintendent of schools. 

La .Tolla Do. 

Lodi Do. 

Long Beach Do. 

Los Angeles M. C. Bettinger. superintendent of schools. 

Modesto Superintendent of schools. 

Monrovia Do. 

Normal Heights Do. 

Oakland Dr. N. K. Foster, medical director of schools. 

Ocean Park Superintendent of schools. 

Parlier Do. 

Pasadena Do. 

Redlands Do. 

Riverside Do. 

Sacramento Do. 

San Bernardino Do. 

San Diego Duncan MacKinnon, superintendent of .schools. 

San Francisco Superintendent of schools. 

San .Jose D. T. Bateman, superintendent of schools. 

Santa Barbara Superintendent of schools. 

Tulare Do. 

Vallejo Do. 

West San Pasquale I )ist. Do. 



APPENDIX O LISTS OF OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 267 

Connecticut : 

Hartfoi'd Superintendent of Scliools. 

New Haven F. H. Beede, superintendent of scliools. 

Florida : Jacksonville Superintendent of schools. 

Illinois : Evanston Do. 

Louisiana : 

New Orleans Do. 

Shreveport Do. 

Maine: Bangor Do. 

Massachusetts : 

Boston Do. 

Canton .John C. Davis, superintendent of schools. 

New .Tersey : 

Camden Superintendent of scliools. 

Montclair D. C. Bliss, superintendent of scliools. 

New York : 

Allaben Superintendent of scliools. 

Brooklyn Do. 

New York City Do. 

Rochester Do. 

Schenectady A. R. Brubacker, superintendent of schools. 

North Carolina : Asheville Superintendent of schools. 

Ohio: 

Columbus Do. 

Dayton Do. ' 

Pennsylvania : Bethlehem William G. Cleaver, superintendent of scliools. 

Itliode Island : 

Pawtucket Frank O. Draper, superintendent of schools. 

Providence Dr. Ellen A. Stone, superintendent of child hy- 
giene. 

South Carolina : Columbia^ Superintendent of schools. 

Virginia: Williamsburg Do. 

Washington : 

Everett Do. 

Seattle Do. 

PRIVATE OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS— SUPERINTENDENTS. 

California : 

Alameda — The Glen Taylor School Mrs. Esther Taylor, principal. 

Ben Lomond — Sun Haven Miss .Tuliane Wolters, principal. 

Berkeley — The Claremont Heights Out- Miss Elizabeth Place, principal. 

of -Door School. 
San Diego — Francis W. Parker School__. Principal of school. 
Connecticut : 

Hartford — Miss Wheeler's Sch(x»l Miss Mary Pomeroy Wheeler, 

principal. 

New Haven Tlie Misses Lunis' Open- Principal of sch(X)l. 

Air School. 
District of Columbia : Washington — Oak Crest Margaret Raymond Paine, prin- 

Open-Air School. 4606 Thirteenth Street. cipal. 

Florida : Jacksonville — The Florida Open- Mrs. Langdon Caskin, director. 

Air School. 
Georgia : Atlanta — Washington Seminary, Principal of schools. 
Peachtree Street. 



268 



OPEN-ATR SCHOOLS. 



Illinois : 

Chicago — The Jewish Ti-ainiiig School 

Chicago — The Loring School, Kinder- 
garten. 
Chicago— The Orthogenic School, 620 
South Hermitage Avenue. 
]\Iaine : Casco — The McAuliffe Outdoor School 

for Boys. 
jNIaryland : 

Baltimore — The Calvert School ( for boys ) _. 

Baltimore — 3104 Walbrook Avenue 

Roland Park — Roland Park Country 
School. 
Masachusetts : Boston — Miss Elizabeth J. 

Woodward's School. 
New Jersey : Summit — Open-Air Kindergar- 
ten, affiliated with Kent Place School. 
New York : 

Albany — St. Agnes' school 

AUaben, Ulster County — The Mountain 
School for Boys. 

Brooklyn — Friends' School 

Brooklyn — Brooklyn Heights Seminary, 

18 Pierrepont Street. 
Buffalo— The Park School. Jewett Place 

corner Main. 
New York — Ethical Culture School, Cen- 
tral Park West and Sixty-third Street. 
New York City — Horace Mann School, 
One hundred and twentieth Street and 
Broadway. 
New Rochelle — Mrs. Ada C. Beckwith's 
Out-of-Door Kindergarten, 85 Sickles 
Avenue. 
Rochester — St. Nicholas Outdoor School- 
Syracuse — Mrs. Elizabeth Comstock 
Robertson's Open-Air Kindergarten, 
320 Farmer Street. 
Syracuse — Mrs. Rice's Open-Air School., 
Pennsylvania : 

Bryn Mawr — The Phoebe Anna Thorne 

Open-Air Model School. 
Merion — The Merion Country Day 
School. 

Lansdowne — Open-Air Kindergarten 

Mount Airy — Miss Hill's School, 8(»2 
Green Avenue. 

Sharon Hill — Rose Outdoor School , 

Wayne — Mrs. Hunter's School 

Wilkes-Barre — Wilkes-Barre Institute- _. 
Rhode Island : Providence — Open-Air School, 

405 Angel Street. 
South Carolina; Columbia — Bon Air School-. 



Joseph L. Bache, superintendent. 
IVIrs. Stella Loring, principal. 

Principal of school . 

F. J. McAuliffe, principal of 
school. 

Principal of school. 
Mrs. A. K. Bond. 
Principal of school. 

Do. 

Miss Maud Mueller, principal. 



Principal of school. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Mary Hammett Lewis, principal. 

Principal of school. 

Do. 

Do. 



Do. 
Do. 



Do. 

Prof. Mathilde Castro, director. 

Gertrude Hartman, principal. 

Principal of school. 
Do. 

George K. Goodwin, principal. 
Principal of school. 

Do. 
Dr. Helen f'ooke, principal. 

Principal of school. 



APPENDIX G LISTS OF OPEN-AIR SCPIOOLS. 269 

PREVENTORIUMS— SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Illinois: Lake Forest — Ridge Farm Preven- Mrs. Frances R. Dickinson, 1518 

torium. Astor Street, Chicago. 

New Jersey: Farmingdale — Tuberculosis Pre- J. Palmer Quinby, superintendent. 

ventorium for Children. 

New York : Albany — Preventorium Superintendent. 

Rhode Island: Hoxsie — Lakeside I'reven- League for the Suppression of 

torium. Tuberculosis, 5o Eddy Street, 

Providence. 
Ohio: Cleveland — Buckeye Road Fresh-Air 

Camp. 

SANATORIUMS AND HOSPITALS. 

(Connecticut : Wallingford — Gaylord Farm Sanatorium Open- Superintendent. 

Air School. 
Delaware : Marshalltown— Hui)e Farm Sanatorium Open-Air Do. 

School. 

Georgia: Atlanta — Battle Hill Sanatorium Open-Air School Do. 

Illinois : 

Chicago — Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium Open-Air Do. 

School. 
Oak Forest — Cook County Tuberculosis Hospital Open- Do. 

School. 

Iowa: Oakdale — Oakdale Sanatorium Open-Air School Do. 

Kentucky: Louisville — Waverly Hill Sanatorium Open-Air Do. 

School. 
Maryland : 

Baltimore — James L. Keruan Hospital and School for Do. 

Crippled Children. 
Savillasville — Maryland State Sanatorium Open-Air Do. 

School. 
Massachusetts : 

Boston — Mattapan Consumptives' Hospital Open-Air Do. 

School. 

Canton — Massachusetts Hospital Open-Air School Do. 

New Bedford — Sassaquin Sanatorium Do. 

Michigan : 

Detroit — Herman Kiefer Sanatorium School Do. 

Grand Rapids — Municipal Sanatorium Open-Air School Do. 

Minnesota : Nopeming — Nopeming Sanatorium Open- Air Do. 

School. 
Missom-i : Mount Vernon — State Sanatorium Open-Air School- Do. 

New Jersey : Glen Gardner — New Jersey State Sanatorium Do. 

Open-Air School. 
New York : 

Brooklyn — Long Island College Hospital Open-Air School. Do. 

Glen Aberdeen — State Tuberculosis Sanatorium Open-Air Do. 

School. 
Lake Kushaqua — Stony Wold Sanatoriiun Open-Air School _ Do. 

New York City — Medford Sanatorium Open-Air School Do. 

New York City — Home Hospital, New York Association for Do. 

Improving Condition of the Poor, 105 East Twenty- 
second Street, 



270 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

New Yoi-k — Continued. 

New York City — Sea Breeze Hospital for Children with Superintendunt. 
Tuberculosis of the Bone, New York Association for 
Improving Condition of the Poor, 105 East Twenty- 
second Street. 
Otisville — New York City Municipal Sanatorium Open- Do. 

Air School. 
Perrysburg — ,T. N. Adams Memorial Hospital Open-Air Do. 

School. 

Rochester — lola Sanatorium Open-Air School Do. 

Ohio: Cincinnati — Municipal Tuberculosis Hospital Do. 

Pennsylvania : Pittsburgh — Tuberculosis Hospital Open-Air Do. 

School. 
Wisconsin : Wales — State Tuberculosis Sanatorium Open-Air Do. 

School. 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

I. BOOKS. 

Ayres, Leonard P. Lagsf^rds in our schools. New Yoi-k, Survey associates, 
inc.. 1913. 236 p. cliarts. (Russell Sage foundation.) 
A study of retardation and elimination in public-school systems. 

Open-air schools. New York. Doubleday, Page & company, 1010. 171 p. 

illus. 

Bibliography. 

Baldwin, Bird Thomas. Physical growth and school progress; a study in ex- 
perimental education. Washington, Government printing office, 1914. 21.") 
p. charts. (U. S. Bureau of education. Bulletin. 1914, no. 10.) 
Tables on weight and height of school children. Bibliography of 336 titles. 

Bryant, Louise Stevens. School feeding, its history and practice at home and 
abroad. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & co., 1913. 345 p. illus. 
Bibliography, 

Burks, Frances Williston, and Burks, Jesse D. Health and the school. New 
York, I). Appleton & co., 1913. 393 p. illus. 
Bibliography. 

Carrington, Thomas Spees. Fresh air and how to use it. In National associa- 
tion for the study and prevention of tuberculosis. New York, 1914. 2.50 p. 
illus. 

Crowley, Ralph H. The open-air recovery school. In his Hygiene of school life. 
London, Methuen & co., 1910. p. 230-254. 

Dresslar, Fletcher B. School hygiene. New York, Macmillan co., 1913. xi, 
369 p. illus., plates. (Brief course series in education, ed. by P. Monroe.) 
Contains a chapter on open-air schools and discussion on heating and ventilation 
of schoolrooms and general problems of school hygiene. 

Gorst, Sir John E. The forest school at Charlottenburg. /)( his Children of the 

nation. 2d ed. London, Methuen & co., 1907. p. 153-171. 
Gulick, Luther Halsey, and Ayres, Leonard P. Medical inspection of schools. 

New York, Survey associates, inc., 1913. 224 p. illus. 
Hogarth, A. H. Medical inspection of schools. London, Oxford university 

press. 1909. 360 p. 

A history of medical inspection and discussion of general principles and metlio<ls 

used in England. Bibliography. 

Kandel, I. L. Elementary education in England. Washington, Government 
printing office, 1914. 161 p. illus. (U. S. Bureau of education. Bulletin, 
1913. no. 57.) 
Contains a good chapter on open-air schools, also section on school journeys. 

Kelynack, T. N., ed. Yearbook of open-air schools and children's sanitaria. 
London, John Bale, sous & Danielson, ltd., 1915. 444 p. illus. 

271 



272 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Kingsley, Sherman C. Open-air crusaders. Chicago, Elizabeth McCormick 
memorial fund, 1913. 128 p. illus. 
Bibliography. 

Kirchner, M. Die Tuberkulose und die Schule. Berlin, Schoetz. 

Lietz, H. Gedanken und Bilder aus Deutsclieu Landerzieliungsheimen. Leipzig, 

R. Voigtlaenders, 1910. 
Neufert, H., and Bendix, B. Die Charlottenburger Waldschule im ersteu Jahr 

ihres Bestehens. Berlin, Wein, Urban und Schwartzenberg, 1906. 
Sandt, H. Waldschulen. In Schulhygienisches Taschenbuch. Hamburg, 1907. 

p. 260-266. 
Terman, Lewis M. The hygiene of the school child. New York, Houghton 
Mifflin CO., 1914. 417 p. illus. 
References. 

AVatt, William Edward. Open air; a statement of what is being done and 
what should be done to secure right air in homes, schools, offices, etc. 
Chicago, Little Chronicle co., 1910. 282 p. illus. 
Gives some account of the Graham school, Chicago. 

II. PAMPHLETS. 

Ayres, Leonard P. Open-air schools. New York. Russell Sage foundation, 1914. 

15 p. 
Bierbaum and Doerenkamp. Die Waldschule. [Muenchen-Gladbach, Heinrich 

Lapp, 1910.] 
Carrington, Thomas S. Directions for living and sleeping in the open air. In 

National association for the study and prevention of tuberculosis. New 

York, 1913. 
De Montmorency, J. E. G. School excursions and vacation schools. London, 

Wyman & sons, ltd., 1907. 89 p. (Great Britain. Board of education. 

Special reports on educational subjects, v. 21.) 

Gives acounts of several open-air schools in England and Germany. 

Gray, Ernest. Open-air schools. North of England educational conference, 1909. 

Kentucky. Board of tuberculosis commissioners. Fresh air and the schools. 
Frankfort, State journal co., n. d. 15 p. illus. 
Outlines methods of open-air school administration. 

Kingsley, Sherman C. Open-air school houses. Chicago, Elizabeth McCormick 
memorial fund, 1912. 31 p. 
Illustrated. 
Knopf, A. Adolphus. Tuberculosis and other diseases in schools and colleges. 
New York, 1913. 12 p. illus. 

Reprinted from the New York medical journal, Jan. 25, 1913. 
A good discussion of open-air schools and open-air instruction, with list of 
breathing exercises to be taken as preventive measures. 

Koenig, Karl. Die Waldschule in Muelhausen. Strassburger Druckerel und 
Verlagsanstalt. 

Kraft, A. Waldschulen. Zui-ich. Verlag Art. Institut Orell Fuessli, 1908. 28 p. 

Public education association. New York. Shall the schools serve luncheons? 
New York, 1913. 7 p. (Bulletin no. 9.) 

Rose, Frederick. Brief account of the nature and scope of open-air schools and 
details and estimate of the model. London, Penny & Hill, printers. (Lon- 
don county council. Pamphlet.) 

• Open-air schools. London, Royal sanitary institute. 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. 273 

Vau Pelt, Johu V. Open-air schools and their relation to pulmonary tnhereu- 

losis. Reprinted from the Interstate medical journal, vol. 21, no. 4, 1914. 

24 p. 
Walton, Mixs Carol F. Bulletin of the Michigan association for the prevention 

and relief of tuberculosis. Open-air school number, April, 1913. 
Wanger, B. Die Waldschule in Muelhausen i. Elsass, 1907. 
Warren, B. S. Open-air schools for the prevention and cure of tuberculosis 

among children. Washington, Government printing office, 1912. 20 p. 

illus. (U. S. Public healtli service. Bulletin no. 58.) 

Charts, tables, and description of the St. Louis, Mo., open-air school, with brief 

discussion of the work in other cities. 

IIL ARTICLES. 

Ayres, Leonard P. Open-air schools. New York, 1910. 13 p. 

Reprint from the procecdinss of the Albany (1910) meeting of the Committee on 
the prevention of tuberculosis of the New York state charities aid association. 

Baginsky, Adolf. Ueber Waldschulen und Walderholungstlitten. In Zeitschrift 

fiir piidagogische Psychologic, Pathologie, und Hygiene, 190G, Bd. 8, p. 

161-177. 
Bendix, B. Ueber die Charlottenburger Waldschule. Deutsche Vierteljahrs- 

schrift fiir oeffentliche Gesundheitspflege. (Leipzig, B. G. Tuebner.) 

39:305-322. September, 1906. 

Proceedings of the Seventh annual meeting of the Doutscher Verein fiir Schul- 

gesundheitspflege. 

Bienstock, Dr. Die Waldschule in Muelliauscn. Strassl)urger IMedizinische 
Zeitnng. Heft 1. 1907; Zeitschrift fiir Schulgesundheitspflege, 20:219-235. 
Leopold Voss, Hamburg. 

B.vles, A. Holden. The open-air school. World's work (London), 13:197-208, 
.January, 1909. illus. 

Schools in England, and Cbarloltenburg, Germany. 

Bjorkman, Edwin. The outdoor scliool. Van Norden, December, 1909. 

Bryee, I*. H. Open-air schools and preventoria. IMedical review of i*eviews, 

15:550-558, August 25, 1909. 
Carrington. Thomas S. How to build and equip an open-air school. Survey, 

24 : 144-151, April 23, 1910. 
Cheney, Charles Henry. Oakland school building inquiry. American school 

board journal, 46 : 9-11. April, 1913. 

Gives plan for open-air schoolrooms. Illustrated. 

Clark, Ida Hood. Management and curriculum of open-air schools. Tn National 
education association. I*rocee<lings and addresses, 1909. p. 894-901. 

Crowley. Ralph H. The open-air school movement. British journal of tuber- 
culosis, 3 : 188-190, July, 1909. 

Curtis, Elnora W. Outdoor schools. Pedagogical seminary, 16:109-194, June, 
1909. 

Bibliography. 

Outdoor .schools. American city. 1:11.5-118, November, 1909 and 2:33- 

37. January, 1910. 
Illustrated. 

Floyd, Cleavland. Care of phthisis in children through the outdoor school. 
American journal of imblic hygiene ,19, n. s., 5 : 745-753, November, 1909, 
97855"— Bull, 23—17 18 



274 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Foerste, August F. Open-air schools, (3hio state board of health. Monthly 
bulletin, 2 : 42-65, March, 1912. 

History of open-air schools in Germany, England, and America to date. 

Frasei", IMark S. Pulmonary tuberculosis in school children. In Seventh annual 
report on the medical inspection of school children in Dunfermline (Scot- 
land), 1912-13. p. 80-106. (Carnegie Dunfermline trust.) 

Godfrey, Betty. An inexpensive outdoor school (Hartford, Conn.). Good house- 
keeping, 50 : 670, May, 1910. 

Grau, H. Ergebnisse und Bedeutung der Waldschule. Centralblatt fiir allge- 
meine Gesundheitspflege, 1906. 25. Jahrgang, Heft 11-12, p. 373-480. 

H., A. La ligue pour 1 'education en plein air. L'hygieue a et par I'ecole, Decem- 
ber, 1913. p. 135-137. 

Description of organization. 

Hartt, Mary Brunson. A school on a roof. Boston transcript, May 11, 1910. 
Franklin park school. 

Henderson, Charles Hanford. Outdoor schools. World's work, 17 : 11095-8, 
January, 1909. 

Effort to adapt teaching to the real conditions of modern life. 

Huetzer. Dr. Walderholungstaetten und Waldschule. Centralblatt fuer allge- 

meine Gesundheitspflege, 1906. 25. Jahrgang, Heft 1-2, p. 72-77. 
Hyatt, Edward. California schoolhouse for $500. Sacramento, State printing 

office, n. d. p. illus. 
Hyams, Isable F., and Minot, James. Boston's outdoor school. Reprinted from 

the journal of outdoor life, July, 1909, in " Outdoor schools," published by 

the Boston association for the relief and control of tuberculosis, 1909. p. 

11-19, illus. 
Jacob, — . Tuberkulose und schule. In IX iuternationaleu Tuberkulose Kon- 

fenerz. Bruessel, 1910. 
Kauffman, Eunice H. School in the forest. Outlook, 90 : 793-795. December 5, 

1908. 
Keyes, Harold Brown. Effect of indoor and outdoor school life on the mental 

condition of children. In Fourth international congress on school hygiene, 

Buffalo, 1913. Transactions, vol. 2, p. 125-134. illus. 
Kingsley. Sherman C. Tuberculous children on a city roof. Survey, 23 : 863- 

866, March 5, 1910. 

An account of the school carried on by the United charities of Chicago. lUns- 

trated. 

Kirchner, M. Tuberkulose und Schule. Zeitschrlft fiir Sclmlgesundheitspflege, 

Beiheft, 1912. 
Kruesi, Walter E. School of outdoor life, Itoxbury, Mass, Charities and the 

commons, 21 : 447-449, December 19, 1908. 
Parker Hill School. 

Playground no. 23 : 5-6, February, 1909. 

Illustrated. 

Lange, W. Die Waldschule. Paed. Warte, Jahrgang 15, Heft 20, p, 1096-1107. 

Die Charlottenburger \\'aldschule, Neue Bahnen, Bd. 18, No. 2. 

Lennhoff, Rudolph. Walderholungstaetten und Gesundheiiue. Deutsche Viertel- 
jahrsschrift fiir offentliche Gesundheitspflege, 39:71-107. lOttO. 

Moll- Weiss, Augusta. Les ecoles de plein air. li'enfant, \). 549-554. December. 
1908. 

Morin, Jeanne. An open-air school in France. Wide world, 24 : 196-201, Decem- 
ber, 1909. 
Illustrated. 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. 275 

McMicluiel, O. W. Four mouths in the open uir ; a study of sixty childreu. 

1911. 8 p. 

Reprinted from the transactions of tlie seventh annual meeting of the National 
association for the study and prevention of tuberculosis, 1911. Report on children 
in the Franklin school open-window rooms. 

Xeufert, H. Waldschulen. In Yerhandlungen der VII Jahresversammlung des 
Deutscheu A'ereins fiir Schulgesundheitspflege. Published as a supple- 
ments, etc. " Gesunde Jugend," 1906. 

Nietner, Dr. Der Stand der Tuberkulo.sebekaempfung im Fruejahr 1909. Ge- 
schaefsbericht des Deutsclien Zentralliomitees zur Bekaempfung der Tuber- 
kulose, Berlin, 1909. 

Nuth, Margaret E., Open-air education for well-to-do children. Child (London), 
4 : 438-444. IMarch. 1914. 

An account of the open air scliool held in the Botanical Gardens. Regent's Park, 
London. Illustrated. 

Pannwits, Dr. Gesichtspunkte bei der Anlage und dem Betrieb von Kinder- 
sanatorien. In Yerhandlungen der VH Internationalen Tuberkulose Kon- 
fei-enz in Stockholm 8-10-Juli-1909. 
Freiluftschulen Hohenlychen. 

Quesada, Luis Miot. Porvenio de la escuela al cure libre. In Fourth interna- 
tional congress on school hygiene. Transactions, vol. 2, 1918, p. 144-1.'j::}. 

Roach, Walter W. Open-window classrooms for normal, healthy children. 
School progress, 1913, p. 445-477. 

Revitalizing devitalized children — an open-window experiment. Aiuer- 

ican journal of public health, vol. 3. no. 2. (Reprinted, 13 p.) 

Vitalizing school children — an open-window experiment in Philadelphia. 



In Fourth international congress on school hygiene. Transactions, vol. 2, 
1913. p. 135-143. 
Illustrated. 

Rose, Frederick. Open-air schools. Progress. 3 : 87-98, April. 1908. 

Illustrated. 
The national importance of outdoor schools. British journal of tuber- 
culosis. 3:181-187. .July. 1909. 
Bibliography. 
Schaefer, Dr. Zur Eroflfnung der Waldschule der stadt M. Gladbach. Central- 
Itlatt fiir allgenieine Gesundbeitsptlege, 1906. 25. Jahrgang. Heft 7. p. 
311-315. Bonn, Martin Hager. 
Schoen. Henri. Les nouevUes 6coles sous bois. L'education. p. 389-420. Septem- 
ber, 1909. 

Description of open-air schools In Germany, England, and Switzerland. Illus- 
trated. 

Schwarz. Karl W. Waldschulen. Die Gesundheitswarte der Schule, 3. Jahr- 
gang. August, 1905. p. 200-202. 

Slocum, Maude M. America's fresh-air school in Providence. Good health, 
43:383-385, July. 1908. 
Illustrated. 

Spencer, Mrs. Anna Garlin. Open-air schools. In Sixth international congress 

of tuberculosis. Transactions, 1908. vol. 2, p. 612-618. 
Stoll, Henry F. The Hartford preventorium ; an outdoor school for delicate 

children. .Journal of outdoor life, vol. 7. March. 1910. 
Talbot. Winthrop T. The physical basis of attention. In National education 

association. Proceedings and addresses, 1908. p. 932-930. 



276 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Tliiel, Peter J. Die Waldschule in der fi-eieu Natur, eine padagogisclie Not- 
wendigkeit uud Mogliclikeit. In Inteniationaler Kongres fiir Schulliygiene, 
Nuernberg, April, 1004. Bd. 2, p. 346-352. 

Todd, John B. Ventilation. Fallacies, facts ; experiments, experience. Syra- 
cuse, A. R. Elliott publishing co., 1914. 13 p. 

Reprinted from the New York medical journal, April IS, 1914. Bibliography. 

The new method of determining the dust in air and in fresh-air scliool- 

rooms. Syracuse, A. R. Elliott publishing co., 1914. 11 p. 

Reprinted from the New Yorlj medical journal, February 28, 1914. 
Upton, Siegried Maia Hansen. Open-air schools. Te-ichers' college record 
(Teachei*s college, Columbia university), 15:139-205, May, 1914. 

Includes a brief history of movement, description of organization, and methods 
of teaching, results, with tests for determining the efficiency of methods in open- 
air schools ; bibliography. 
Vieten-Hagen-Boell. Ueber die Bakaempfung der Tuberkulose im Kindesalter. 

Zeitschrift fiir aerztliche Fortbildung, 1909, no. 9. 
Watt, William E. Fresh air for average children. Survey, 21 : 866-869, March 

5, 1910. 

Illustrated. An account of the fresh-air room experiment in the Graham School, 
Chicago. 
Williams, R. P. Honolulu's open-air school. Paradise of the Pacific (Honolulu), 
27: 12-13, -May, 1914. 
Illustrated. 

Kauai open-air schoolroom. Photograph of a typical schoolroom in 

Kauai. Hawaii educational review, 1 : 1, November, 1913. 

■ Sheffield open-air recovery school. School hygiene, 1 : 136-143, March, 

1910. 
• Sheffield open-air school. British journal of tuberculosis, 4 : 101-106, 



April, 1910. 
Illustrated. 

III. REPORTS. 

AUSTRALIA. 

Victoria. IMinister of public instruction. Education report (together with ap- 
pendices) for the year 1911-12. Victoria, 1913. 



Hamilton health association. Annual reports, 6-8. Hamilton, Ontario. 1911- 

1912, 1913. 

Children's preventoria at the Mountain sanatorium. Illustrated. 

Montreal. Royal Edward institute for the study, prevention, and cure of tuber- 
culosis. Fourth annual report. Montreal, 1913. 

Description of open-air school at Royal Edward institute. Illustrated. 
Struthers, W. E. Medical inspection of .schools in Toronto. Public health jour- 
nal (Canadian), 5:67: February. 1914. 

Written by Chief medical inspector. Illustrated. 

DKNMAUK. 

Bonichjaelpsdiigetis Fiiluftskoloni. Beretning, 1912. 7 p. illus. 

Report on (lie frcsli-air colony for weak children, organized by the children's aid 
day. 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYo 277 

ENGLAND. 
BdlltslC!/. 

Sadler, F. J. Repoi't on Queen's Roiul <i])en-!ur school, session 1912-13. Barnsley, 
P^ducation office. 1913. 12 p. Tables. 
Report of the school medical officer. 

Bradford. 

Crowley, Ralph H. Report on the Thackley open-air school by the medical 

superintendent. Bradford. Education committee, 190S. 
Williams. Lewis. Reports on the Thackley open-air school. In Reports of the 

school medical officer for the yea-rs 1911 to date. Bradford, Education 

committee, 1912 to date. Tables. 

Birmingham. 

Auden, George A. Open-air school and its place in educational organization. 

Public health (London), 2.5 : 249-259, April, 1912. 
Report on the Uffculme open-air school. In his Annual report of the 



school medical officer. 1912. p. 29-41. 

Issued by the BirmiDgham education committee. 

Bristol. 

Bristol. School medical officer. Report on the Bristol open-air school. In his 
Sixth annual report. 1913, p. 58-63. 

Issued by the Bristol education committee, 1914. 

Darlington. 

Darlington. Education committee. Report on the open-air school. In their 
Fourth report, August 1, 1908, to July 31, 1910, p. 15-16. 

Mostyn, S. G. Reports on the open-air school. In his Annual reports of the 
school medical officer, 1911, p. 20-21 ; 1912, p. 65-66. 

Wood, F. T. H. Report on open-air school. In his Third report of the school 
medical officer. 1910. p. 27-32. 

Eastcotc {near Pinner). 

St. Vincent's cripples' home. Reports and accounts for the years 1911-12 and 
1912-13. 
Illustrated. 

Halifax. 

Halifax. Education committee. Report on Bermerside open-air school. 190S. 

1909. 
Illustrated. 
School medical officer. Reports on Bermerside open-air school. In his 

Annual reports, 1912. p. 6-17 ; 1913. p. 14-19. 

London. 

Great Britain. Board of education. Open-air education. In the Annual report 
of the chief medical officer, 1912. p. 256-270. London, Eyre and Spottis- 
woode, ltd. 1913. 
Illustrated. 

A particularly valuable discussion, with illustrations, of the principles and 
development of open-air education in England, including a chapter on tuberculosis 
among school children. 



2 78 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

London county council. Eductition committee. Open-air schools, 190S. Report 
of the education connnittee of the council .suljmitting a joint report of the 
education officer and the medical officer (education) on the open-air schools 
held at Birley House, Dulwich ; Montpelier House, Upper HoUoway ; and 
Shrewsbury House, Woolwich, between the 10th of June and 31st of 
October, 1908. London, P. S. King & son, 1909. 20 p. 

lieport on vacation schools and organized vacation play. London, 

P. S. King & son, 1912. 

• Reports by the school medical ofhcer on open-air schools. 1912. 



1913. London, P. S. King & son. 1912, 1913. 
Paddington and Kensington dispensary for the prevention of consumption. 

Fourth annual report, 1912. illus. 
St. Marylebone dispensary for the prevention of consumption. Report on the 

working of the open-air school in Regent's Park. Tn its Second annual 

report, 1912, p. 56-65. illus. 
Alexandra hospital for children with hip disease. Forty-sixth annual report, 

1912. 

Manchester. 

Manchester. Education committee. Manchester country school and care of 
consumptice children. In their Ninth annual report, 1910-11. p. 15.S-171, 
199. 

O.ron (near Reading). 

Maitland sanatorium. Reports for the years 1912, 1914. illus. 

Description of Kindercot, the children's department of the sanatorium. 

Sheffield. 

Williams, Ralph P. Report on the open-air recovery school at Whiteley Wood. 
In his Fifth annual report of the chief medical officer, 1912. p. 38-42. 
Issued by the Sheffield education committee. 

Reports of the school medical officer on the open-air recovery school at 



Wbiteley Wood, 1909, 1910, 1911. 
Issued by the Sheffield education committee. 

ITALY. 

Granziani, Alberto. Lascuola all' aperto. Rome, Editrice nazionale, 1912. 58 p. 
Issued Ijy the Instituto nazionale per 1' incremento della educazione flsica in 
Italia. 

Reprint of an address before the fourth International congress of physical 
education. 

Florence. 

Dotti, G. A Relazione sulla scuola all" aperto del comuno di Firenze. Firenze, 
Luigi Niccolai, 1913. 8 p. 

Issued by Societa Florentina Unilierto I contro la tuberculosa 
ISricf report of the open-air school, 1012-1.3. 

Padua. 

Associazione Padovana contro la tubercolosi. Album of views. Padua. 1910. 
Contains several pictures of open-air schools. 

Xeri, Giovaiuii. Lavigilanza igienica sulle scuole conuinati elementari di Padova 
durante gli anni 1904-1909. Padua, Societa cooperativa tipografica. 1912. 
13 p. 



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lirtiKli, Alessaudro. La lotta coutiu la tubeixolusi iiel couiuue di Padova. lie- 
print of an address given before the second Nntional antitubercidosis con- 
ference, Florence. 19(t9. Florence, Salvadore Landi, 1910. 8 p. 

Report of the Antituborculosis association of I'adiia. incliulin.ic a brief report on 
open-air scliools. 

Recreatori e Scuole a' aperto per i fanciulli de1)oli. Padua, R. Stab. 

P. Prosperini, 1908. 7 p. 

Discussion of playgrounds and open-air sctiools for sickly children. 

Kepriut of an addresb before the sixth Italian congre.ss of pediatrics, Padua, 1907. 

SCOTLAND. 

EtVmliitrffJi. 

Edinburfih. School board. Report on special school for delicate children at 
Hunibie. Jn their Aunnnl report for session, 1911-12. p. 43-44. 

Report on special schools. In Report by medical officer for session, 1911- 

12. p. 10, 19, 20. 

Glasgoic. 

Glasgow^. School board. Report on Biggart memorial home at Prestwick. In 

their Annual report, session 1911-12. p. 21. 
Report on open-air residential school. Prestwick. In their Third annual 

report on medical inspection of children, 1911-12. p. 11-12. 

Perthshire. 

Perth. School medical officer. Reports on open-air schools. lu his Second and 
third annual reports on the medical inspection of school children, 1911-12. 
p. 45, 46; 1912-13, p. 57. 

Issued l)y the committee for the county of I'ertli on secondary education. 

SWEDEN. 

Sioehholm. 

Stockholm. Cit.v council. Reprints from pi-oceedings, including a plan for 
establishing a forest school for sick children, submitted by Dr. Siindell, 
Stockholm, 1907, 1914. 

Reports on the proposition by various municipal departments of the municipality 
and by a commission appointed to investigate the matter ; and the decision of the 
council. 

UNITED STATES. 

Illinois. 

Chicago. Board of education. Department of child study and pedagogic investi- 
gation. Cliild-study reports, nos. 2. 3, 1899-19(K), 1900-01. 

No. li is a reprint from the forty-sixth annual report of the Board of education of 
Chicago, 1800-1900. 

Wing, Frank E. Report of Chicago's first outdoor school and its results. Chi- 
cago. The Chicago tuberculosis institute. 1909. 14 j). illus. 

Massachusetts. 

Massachusetts. State board of health and board of trustees of hospitals for 
consumptives. Recommendation for the establishment of open-air schools. 
Boston, Wright and Potter printing co.. 1913. p. 12. (House, no. 1950.) 



280 OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS. 

Boston. 

Associntion foi- the relief and control of tiiben-ulosis. Annual reports. 190,S to 
(late. 

Gives running story of development of open-air school work in Boston. 

MicMfian. 

Grand Rapids. Board of health. Survey of fivt:- years' Vt'ork at tuherculosis 
sanatorium. Grand Rapids. 1912. 20 p. illus. 

Aetf York. 

Charity organization society of the city of New York. Preventing tuberculosis 
in New York City. Ninth report of the Committee on the prevention of 
tuberculosis, covering tJie years 1911. 1912. and 1913. New York. Charity 
organization society of New York. 1914. 70 p. illus. 

Charts and photographs illustrating the work of the committee 'in establishing 
and conducting fresh-air classes in the New York City schools. 

New York association for improving the condition of the poor. Home hospital 

experiment. Report for 1912-13. 75 p. illus. (Publication no. 78.) 
Poverty and tuberculosis ; two yeai'S of the home hospital experiment. 

Report for 1912-14. 112 p. illus. (Publication no. 84.) 
New York City. Department of education. Reports on open-air classes. In the 

Annual reports of the city superintendent of schools on defective children, 

1910-11 to date. 

Pennsiilvanin. 

School lunch committee of the home and school league. Annual reports, 1911 to 
1913. 

Valuable charts and statistical data on the work of the School lunch committee 
in the Philadelphia schools. 



>Velsh national memorial association (King Edward VII). Second annual 
report on the prevention and abolition of tuberculosis, 1913-14. Cardiff, 
Memorial offices. 1914. 18 p. illus. 

Cardiff. 

Walford, Edward. Report on tubercular children. In his Annual report of the 
school meflical officer, 1912, p. 23-2.">. 

Issued by the Cardiff education committee. 

Carnnri'oii. 

Carnarvonshire county council. Report on Brynaerau open-air school. In 
Summary of iinnu;il report of the school medical officers. 1912, ji. 21. 
illus. 
Issued by the Carnarvonshire county council education committee, 101.3. 



INDEX. 



Antituberculosis crusade, 168-173. 

Appleton, Wis., children suffering from 
malnutrition, 171. 

Arithmetic, Shooters Hill School, England, 
206-207. 

Association for Improving the Condition or 
the Poor, New York City, and open-air 
schools, 17-18. 

Atlanta (<ia.), health inspection, 171. 

Attendance, 234-236, 

Australia, 165-166. 

.\yres, Leonard P., and open-air schools, 
171 ; on results of open-air schools, 218- 
219 ; on sitting out bags, '-10. 

Bag, " sitting out," 37-40, 44. 

Baginsky, Dr., and open-air schools, 105. 

Baths, 47. 

Ben*ix, B., in charge of Charlottenburg 
Forest School, 113. 

Bermerside Open-Air School, England, 211. 

Bibliography, 271-280. 

Birley House School, England, 133, I.IS- 
136, 229-230. 

Blankets, disinfecting, 45. 

Boots, Eskimo, 41. 

Bostall Wood School, England, 133. 

Boston, Mass, 18, 72 ; candidates for 
schools, 171 ; medical supervision of open- 
air schools, 83—84 ; social and economic 
condition of pupils, 52. 

Bowditch, Dr., testing weight of children, 
224. 

Bowring House Country School, England, 
nature study, 212. 

Bradford, England, tests in weight, height, 
etc., 231. 

Buckeye Road Fresh-Air Camp, Ohio, 178. 

Buffalo (X. Y.) open-air schools, 171. 

Buildings, 9-34. 

California, 27—29 ; social and economic con- 
ditions of pupils, 52. 

Canada, 163-165. 

" Cantines scolaires." 76. 

Canton, Mass., 31-33. 

Carling, Esther, on general arrangements 
for sanitarium schools, 184-185. 

Chadwick, H. D., on sanitaria, 188. 

Charlottenburg Forest School, Germany, 9- 
13, 76, 105-120. 

Chicago (111.), attendance, 235: cooperation 
with the home, 223-224 ; first open-air 
school, 18-20, 22 ; grade progress of chil- 
dren, 232 ; medical Inspection of schools, 
84—90 ; recipes and menus, 245—257 ; rec- 
ords and forms, 91-95 ; social and eco- 
nomic conditions of pupils, 52-60 ; weight 
of school children, 224-228, 230. 



Children, social and economic conditions, 
51-GO. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, social and economic con- 
ditions of pupils, 52. 

Classes, sizes, 197-199 ; suggestions, 258- 
261. 

Classrooms, outdoor, 23. 

Cleveland, Ohio, medical inspection of 
schools, 78-79 ; records and forms, 97- 
100 ; social and economic conditions of 
pupils, 52. 

Clothing, 35-42 ; weight, 95. 

Columbus, Ohio, 25-26. 

Composition and dictation. Shooters Hill 
School, England, 206. 

Coronado, Cal., 28-29. 

Cost and equipment, 35-50. 

■• Country schools " for city children, Eng- 
land, 212. 

Courses of study, 196-217 ; Charlottenburg 
Forest School, Germany, 111-112 ; Eng- 
lish schools, 134-1.36, 204-214. 

Day schools, tuberculous children, Eng- 
land, 138-140. . 

Denmark, 155—157. 

Detroit, Mich., 25. 

Disinfection, articles of clothing and sleep- 
ing bags, 44-46. 

District of Columbia, attendance, 234-235. 

Drawing, Shooters Hill School, England, 
210. 

Edinburgh, Scotland, 143. 

Educational organization and curricula, 
196-217. 

Elberfeld Forest School, Germany, gain in 
weight of children, 129. See also tinder 
Forest schools. 

Elementary studies, motor and sensory 
lines, 204. 

Elizabeth McCormick Open-Air Schools, 
Chicago, study of home meals, 6.3-64, 
67-68. 

England, 13-15, 133-142 ; courses of study, 
204-214 ; sanitarium open-air schools, 
184-185 ; school restaurants, 76. 

Equipment and cost, 35-50. 

Eskimo outfit, 39-42. 

Ethical Culture School, New York City, 
physical exercises, 216 ; results of schol- 
arships. 234. 

Farmingdale Preventorium, Illinois, 178. 

Florence. Italy, 147. 

Food, daily, needs of the average child, 
aged 10 years, 63 ; recipes, 245-2.50. See 
also Menus ; values, 63, 65-68. 

Forest schools. Germany, 10.5-132. 

Forms and records, 91-104. 

281 



282 



INDEX. 



France, 149-153 ; sehool restaurants, 76. 

Fresno, Cal., 28. 

Furniture, list needed for kitchen and 
dining-room, 48-50. 

Games, organized, Shooters Hill School, 
England, 211. 

Gardening, Shooters Hill Scliool, Eng- 
land, 209. 

Geography, Shooters Hill School, England. 
204, 207-208. 

Gerlitz, Sandor, on open-air schools, 162. 

Germany, 9-13, 76, 105-132. 

Grades, number of, to teachers, 199. 

Graziani, Alberto, report on open-air 
schools, 147—149. 

Great Britain and Ireland, 133-144. <S'ec 
also Scotland. 

Handwork, Shooters Hill School, England, 
210. 

Harrington, Dr., on medical supervision of 
open-air classes, 83-84. 

Health inspection, 168. 

Health supervision, 78-90. 

Heating, 24. 

Hemoglobin tests, 223, 230-231. 

Holland, 158-160. 

Holmes, G. J., on supervision of open-air 
school for tuberculous children, 79-80. 

Holt, L. E., and weight of children, 224- 
228. 

Home, cooperation with, Chicago, 111., 223- 
224. 

Home Hospital, New York City, 190-191. 

Hospital open-air schools, 188-191, 260- 
270. 

Hungary, 160-162. 

Hygiene, personal. See Health super- 
vision. 

Illinois, 18-20, 22, 31 ; cooperation with 
the home, 223-224: diets for tuberculous 
poor, 75 ; social and economic conditions 
of pupils. 52-60. 

Ireland, 144. 

Italy, 14.5-149 ; school journeys, 216. 

Kentucky, social and economic conditions 
of pupils, 52. 

Kindergartens. 204. 

Lakeside Preventorium, R. I., 178. 

League for Open-.\ir Education, Paris, 
152-153. 

Lists of open-air schools, normal children. 
266-267 ; physically subnormal children, 
264-266 ; private schools, superintend- 
ents, 267-269. .S'ec also Sanatoriums. 

London, elementary school children, aver- 
age gain in weight, 229-2.30. 

London County Council, hemoglobin tests, 
230. 

Louisville, Ky., social and economic condi- 
tions of pupils, 52. 

Lunches, character and cost, 61-77. 

Malnutrition, dangers, 61-62. 

Mann, F. II., on sitting out bags, 37-38. 

Massachusetts, 18, 31-33; legislation, 262- 
263 ; social and economic conditions of 
pupils, 52. 



Massachusetts State Hospital School, 189- 
190. 

Meals. AS'ce Lunches. 

Medical inspection of schools, England, 
171-172. See also Health supervision. 

Medical nursing service, requisites, 86-90. 

Menus, 65-68, 70-72, 251-257. See also 
Food. 

Michigan, 25. 

Minneapolis, Minn., social and economic 
conditions of pupils, 52. 

Minnesota, social and economic conditions 
of pupils, 52. 

Missouri, 24—25 ; social and economic con- 
ditions of pupils, 52. 

Montclair, X. .1., social and economic con- 
ditions of children, 52. 

Muelhausen Forest School, Germany, ex- 
penses, 131 ; gain in weight of children, 
129. See also under Forest schools. 

Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Chi- 
cago, work, 171. 

Music, Shooters Hill School, England, 
209-210. 

Nature study, Bowring House Country 
School, England, 212 ; Shooters HiU 
School, England, 205, 209. 

Needlework, Shooters Hill School, Eng- 
land, 210-211. 

Nellie Leland Open-Air School, Detroit, 
Mich., 25. 

Neufert, Dr., on Charlottenburg Forest 
School, 113. 

New .lersey, social and economic condi- 
tions of children, 52. 

New York City, 17-18, 7-3-74 ; medical 
supervision of open-air schools, 82—83 ; 
records and forms, 104 ; social and 
economic conditions of pupils, 52. 

New York Municipal Sanitarium Open-Air 
School, 185-186. 

New York ( State i , 26 ; social and economic 
conditions of pupils, 52. 

Newark, N. .T., records and forms. 95—96 ; 
social and economic" conditions of pupils, 
52 ; supervision of tuberculous children, 
79-80. 

Norway, 157. 

Nuremberg-Rueckersdorf Place, Germany, 
ph.vsical condition of children, 130. See 
also under Forest schools. 

Nursing service, 86—90. 

Oakland, Cal., 27-28 ; social and economic 
conditions of pupils, 52. 

Ohio, 20 : social and economic conditions 
of pupils, 52. 

Open-window room, expenses of equipping 
and maintaining. 24.'i-244. 

Orientation of buildings, 24. 

Packard, Mary S., on open-air schools, 
16-17. 

Physical condition of children, statistics, 
221-223. 

Physical exercises, 211, 216-217. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., social and economic condi- 
tions of pupils, 52. 



IXDEX. 



283 



Play, effects on children, 216. 

riaygroimd classes, 210; London, 141-142. 

rreventoiia, 178-18.S. 

Providence, R. I., establishuieut of first 
open-air school, 15—17 : social and eco- 
nomic conditions of pupils, 52. 

Reading, Shooters Hill School, England, 
206. 

Recipes adapted to needs of open-air 
schools of Chicago, 245-250. 

Recitations, Shooters Hill School, England, 
205-206. 

Records and forms, 91-104. 

Results of open-air schools, 218-240. 

Rhode Island, 1.5-17 ; social and economic 
conditions of pupils, 52. 

Rochester, N. Y., 26 ; daily menus, 65-68 ; 
results of scholarship, 234 ; school gar- 
dens, 214 ; social and economic conditions 
of pupils, 52. 

Roof school, England, 213-214. 

Russell Sage Foundation, and medical in- 
spection of schools, 78. 

Russia, 166. 

St. Louis, Mo., daily program, 202 ; first 
open-air school, 24—25 ; social and eco- 
nomic conditions of pupils, 52. 

St. Paul, Minn., children suffering with car- 
diac disease and tuberculosis, 171. 

Sanitoriums and hospitals, 184-188, 269- 
270. 

Scales, 47-48. 

Scholarship, 232-234, 

School feeding. »S'cc Lunches, Menus. 

School gardens, 21-1-215. 

School Journey Association, England, aims 
and objects, 215-216. 

School journeys, 215-216. 

School restaurants, England, 76 ; France, 76. 

Scotland, 142-144. 

Sea Breeze Hospital, N. Y., 188-189. 

Sessions, length, 196-197. 



Shooter's Hill Open-Air School, England, 
13-15; curriculum, 204-211. 

Shrewsbury House School, England, 133, 
135. 

" Sitting-out " bag, 37-40, 44. 

Sleeping cots, 42-43. 

Social and economic conditions, childreB, 
51-60. 

Social, economic, and hygienic conditions of 
families, statistics, 241-242. 

South Manchester, Conn., results of schol- 
arship, 234 ; school gardens, 214 ; work 
of household arts school, 70-72. 

Springfield, Mass., social and economic con- 
ditions of pupils, 52. 

Sweden, 157. 

Switzerland, 153-155. 

Syracuse, N. Y.. records and forms, 101- 
103. 

Tallquist test, hemoglobin, 22:'.. 

Teachers, experience, 236-237 ; qualifica- 
tions, 192-193, 202-203. 

Teachers' salaries, 203. 

Toledo, Ohio, 25-26. 

Toronto, Canada, forest school, 163. 

Traveling open-air schools, Italy, 146-147. 

rffculme Open-Air School, Birmingham. 
England, 13. 

United States, first open-air school, 15-17 ; 
open-air school movement, 167—177. 

Utica, N. Y., program, 201. 

Vacation colonies, France, 150-152. 

Vacation schools, 155, 193-195. 

Vocational training. 101-193. 

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice, on medical in- 
spection in England, 171-172. 

Weight, gains, 224-232. 

Woman's National Health Association, Ire- 
land, 144. 

Woodruff, I. O., on medical supervision of 
open-air schools, 82-83 ; on open-air 
schools, 73 ; on outdoor classrooms, 23. 



o 



t> 



(ContiQued from page 2 oil cover.)' 
No. 30. University training for public service. 

No. 31. Montlily record of current educational publications, November, 1916. 
*No. 32. Some facts concerning manual arts and home-making subjects in 156 

cities. J. C. Parle and C. H. Harlan. 5 cts. 
No. 33. Registration and student records for smaller colleges. B. P. Andrews. 
No. 34. Service instruction of American corporations. Leonhard F. Fuld. 
No. 35. Adult iUiteracy.' Wintbrop Talbot. 
*No. 30, Monthly record of current educational publications, December, 1916. 

5 cts. " - 

No. 37. Cooperative syst^n of educatloru C. W. Park. 
No. 38. Negro education. Volume 1. Thomas Jesse Jones. 
No. 39. Negro education. Volume 2. Thomas Jesse Jones. 
No. 40. Gardening in elementary city schools. C. D. Jarvls. 
No. 41. Agricultural and rural extension schools in Ireland. A. O. Monahan. 
No. 42. Minimum school term regulations. J. C. Muerman. 
•No. 43. Educational directory, 1916-17, 20 cts. 
♦No. 44. The district agricultural schools of Georgia. C. H. Lane and D. J. 

Crosby. 5 cts. 
No. 4.5. Kindergarten legislation. Louise Schofleld. 
No. 40. Recent movements in college and university administration. S. P. 

Capen. 
No. 47. Report on the work of the Bureau of Education for the natives of 

Alaska, 1914-15. 
No. 48. Rural school supervision. Katherine M. Cook and A- C. Monahan. 
No. 49. Medical inspection in Great Britain. E. L. Roberts. 
No. 50. Statistics of State universities and State colleges, 1916. 

1917. 

*No. 1. Monthly record of current educational publications, January, 1917. 

5 cts. 
No. 2. English in the high school. J. F. Hosic. 
No. 3. Pine-needle basketi-y in schools. W. C. A. Hammel. 
No. 4. Secondary agricultural schools In Russia. W. S. Jesien. 
No. 5. Report of an inquiry into the administration and suppoxt of the 

Colorado public-school system. Katherine M. Cook and A. C. 

Monahan. 
No. 6. Educative and economic possibilities of school-directed home gardening 

in Richmond, Ind. J. L. Randall. 
No. 7. Monthly record of current educational publications, February, 1917. 
No. 8. Current practice in city school administration. W. S. Deffenbaugh. 
No. 9. Department-store education. Helen R. Norton. 
No. 10. Development of arithmetic as a school subject. W. L. Monroe. 
No. 11, Higher technical education in foreign countries. A. T. Smith and W. S. 

Jesien. 
No. 12. Monthly record of current educational publications, March, 1917. 
No. 18. Monthly record of current educational publications, April, 1917. 
No. 14. A graphic survey of book publications, 1890-1916. F. E. Woodward. 
No. 15. Studies in higher education in Ireland and Wales. George E. MacLean. 
No. 16. Studies lu higher education in England and Scotland. George E. 

MacLean. - ' 

No. 17. Accredited higher institutions. S. P. Capen. 
No. 18. History of public-School education in Delaware. S. B. Weeks. 
No. 19. Report of a survey of the University of Nevada. 
(Continued on page 4 of cover. ) 



(Continued from page 3 of cover.) 
No. 20. Work of school children during out-of -school houra, C. D. Janis. 
No. 21. Monthly record of current educational publications, May, 1917. 
No. 22. Money value of education. A. Caswell Ellis. 
No. 23. Three short courses in home making. Carrie A. Lyford. 
No. 24. Monthly record of current educational publications-^Index, February, 

1916, to January, 1917. 
No. 25. Military training of youth of school age in foreign countries, W. S. 

Jesien. 
No. 26. Garden clubs in Englewood, N. J. 
No. 27, Training of teachers of mathematics. 

No. 28. Monthly record of current educational publications, June, 1917, 
No. 29. Practice teaching for high-school teachers. 
No. 30. School extension statistics, 1915-16. Clarence A, Perry. 
No. 31. Rural-teacher preparation in county training schools and high schools. 

H. W. Foght. 
No. 32. Work of the Bureau of Education for the natives of Alaska, 1915-10. 
No. 33. A comparison of the salaries of rural and urban superintendents of 

schools. A. C. Monahan and C. H. Dye. 
No. 34. Institutions in the United States giving instruction in agriculture. 

A. C. Monahan and C. H. Dye. 
No. 35. The township and community high-school movement in Illinois. H. A. 

Hollister. 



